The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "government accountability office" ...
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Concealing County Corruption: Anatomy of a Cover-Up
Wayne Dolcefino saves the best for last. In his final investigation for KTRK-TV, he and the 13 Undercover Unit demonstrated relentless persistence as they attempted to shake up a county government with an abysmal record of policing itself. This submission begins with four reports detailing shocking evidence of corruption inside the downtown precinct of Constable Jack Abercia. 13 Undercover spent several months doing painstaking surveillance -- catching the Constable’s deputies running his personal errands, working extra jobs on the clock and stockpiling never driven county patrol cars while lawmen were being laid off. 13 Undercover then managed to get a hidden camera inside the chief deputy’s office as he and two deputies talked openly about corruption inside the precinct. The language is often foul mouthed and always revealing. The FBI nabbed Aberica and two top commanders in a bribery sting weeks later. The veteran former constable is now awaiting trial. Eventually, 13 Undercover turned our cameras on county leaders to say “enough is enough.” Not only was action not forthcoming, it quickly became clear that many in positions of power wanted this all to go away without getting their hands dirty, without ending decades of a patronage system that made deputies feel required to give money to their boss’s campaigns and charities to keep their jobs. That was not an option. This investigation demanded accountability and we held leaders to the promises they made to the public. In late summer, 13 Undercover scored a major public records victory that revealed what one commentator dubbed "a cover-up of Nixonian proportions." The series culminated with the long awaited, and previously unimaginable, indictment of one of the county’s most popular elected officials – precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino. New county directives now prohibit constables from soliciting money from their deputies and legislation is expected to filed in Austin to protect county employees from further shakedowns.
Tags: Corruption; county government; officials
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War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City
The hour-long documentary War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City takes an unprecedented look at the impact of corruption on the East St. Louis, Illinois area, one of the poorest and most violent communities in America. The program was broadcast twice during prime time; Tuesday night at 8 pm on August 28, and the following Saturday night at 7 pm. This project was the result of an ongoing decade-long probe of government waste, corruption, police misconduct, and violence in East St. Louis and the surrounding villages by investigative reporter Craig Cheatham. Our documentary begins with a detailed look at police misconduct and corruption, how it has contributed to the breakdown of public safety in the East St. Louis area, and why local politicians tolerated such outrageous behavior by their officers. The second part of our documentary focuses on the impact of derelict and vacant housing, the slumlords who own the property and the people who live in some of the worst housing in the metro area. Our investigation also uncovered new connections between politicians and legendary slumlord Ed Sieron, who was business partners with a longtime mayor. In addition, KMOV revealed that of the 500 mostly rundown properties that Sieron owns in East St. Louis, only 13 were cited for code violations. That lack of accountability for the notorious slumlord, empowered him and made the people living in his homes feel powerless. War Zone also exposes the way East St. Louis communities have sold their economy to vice-driven businesses like strip clubs, liquor stores, a casino, and convenience marts that had a long history of selling illegal synthetic drugs. Our investigation found that nearly all of these businesses failed to employ a significant number of East St. Louis residents, even though they received millions of dollars in tax incentives that are paid by East St. Louis residents. At the same time East St. Louis is handing out tax breaks to wealthy out-of-town businessmen, it repeatedly refused to provide the same tax incentives for local residents who wanted to create family friendly businesses that would employ people living in the East St. Louis area.
Tags: government corruption; police misconduct; violence; politicians; community; local business
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Detroit lags on vacant house demolitions
The author investigated the Wayne County Medical Examiner's office and the mayor's office to see how well they were keeping up their promise to demolish vacant homes in the city.
Tags: accountability; city government; mayor; promise; watchdog
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"Immigrants and the California Economy"
In this four-part series, Ron Campbell investigates the complicated topic of immigration in California. Campbell reveals that California relies on immigrant labor and "brains" more than "any other state." He also finds that California's economy is "closely tied" to immigrants and that education levels play a huge part in wages and quality of life for Californians.
Tags: FOIA; PUMS; Government Accountability Office; Department of Homeland Security; Immigration & Customs Enforcement; Reagan; illegal immigration
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Go Army or Go to Jail
The Commanding General over recruiting for the entire United States Army had made a promise to KHOU: the overly aggressive, even illegal tactics the station uncovered three years earlier would be corrected. The station believed him. Sadly, they discovered they were sorely mistaken. "Go Army or Go to Jail" is a follow-up story but it also broke new ground in the investigation. The investigators uncovered new and illegal tactics the Army uses to force unwilling teenagers to join its ranks and solve a new problem: the number of participants in something called the delayed entry program had dwindled to an all-time low. Some recruiters' solution? To bully, threatened and lie to teenagers and their families in hopes of making mission and meeting quota. Their findings spurred the station to search for and discover what some believe is the very root of Army recruiting abuses that have gone on for years. The investigation contends that the U.S. Army has, quite simply, ignored recommendation after recommendation from the investigative arm of Congress on how the Army could reform.
Tags: U.S. Army; recruiting; investigation; follow-up; Houston; Texas; U.S. Government Accountability Office
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CSAR-X: Rescue Chopper Requirements Sacrificed for Schedule and Rivalries
The U.S. Air Force violated its own procedures and guidelines to pick a new helicopter for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) fleet. The Air Force chose an aircraft that did not meet the rescuer's requirements because it was settling old rivalries and arbitrary deadlines.
Tags: special operations command; army; armed forces; government accountability office; Pentagon Inspector General;
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Patient Privacy
Our investigation found more than 30,000 complaints nationally had been filed under HIPAA -- the health privacy law -- yet not a single hospital or doctor has been fined. The station obtained documents on hundreds of HIPAA investications in Western Pennsylvania and found all the caes were resolved through "voluntary compliance" - no fine or penalty. Moreover, the government office that oversees HIPAA actually violated patient privacy by inadvertently releasing names of some of the people who filed HIPAA complaints.
Tags: Health Information Portability and Accountability Act; HIPAA; patient rights; privacy; hospitals; health care
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Wake-up Call
Medicare and health cost derived from the baby-boomer generation are driving the U.S. governments debts. "According to Government Accountability Office projections, if the federal government stays the course and makes no major changes in programs or taxes, it will be able to do little more than pay interest on its debts in just 30 years."
Tags: budget; Medicare; Social Security; Iraq; federal deficit; tax; reforms;
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The Red Team
"Nearly six years after 9/11, classified test results leaked to 9NEWs show Transportation Security Administration screeners at Denver International Airport failed to find about 80% of weapons, like bombs and liquid explosives, carried by federal undercover agents called the Red Team. Denver is just one of many airports nationwide that are failing the tests, according to the Dept. of Homeland Security's OIG and US Government Accountability Office."
Tags: airports; security; homeland security; transport security association; TSA; bombs; weapons; flight safety
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Imperial Life in the Emerald City
This book uses the Coalition Provisional Authority's Green Zone Headquarters in Baghdad to detail "the incompetence and arrogance that bedevilled the [American government's]effort to reconstruct and govern Iraq in the crucial first year after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government." Chandasekaran's sources included former CPA employees who had returned to the U.S. after sovereignty was re-established in Iraq.
Tags: Coalition Provisional Authority; CPA; Green Zone; Washington Post; FOIA; Department of Defense; DOD; Pentagon; Government Accountability Office; GAO; State Department; Ambassador Paul L. Bremer; Kurdish Regional Government; de-Baathification; U.S. Agency for International Development; USAID; Persian Gulf War; Sunni Tiangle; Abu Ghraib Prison; Paul Wolfowitz