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 "highway patrol" ...
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America's Great State Payroll Giveaway
A state-employed psychiatrist in California made $822,000 by clocking in 17 hours every day last year, including Sundays and holidays. An employee cashed out with $609,000 for unused vacation when she retired, claiming she never took vacations in a 30-year career. A highway patrol officer collected $484,000 in salary, pension and leave payments. The chief money manager at a Texas pension fund got $1 million in salary and bonuses while posting investment returns that trailed those of peers who earned a quarter as much. Bloomberg News used freedom-of-information laws to obtain 1.4 million payroll records from the 12 largest states and show how taxpayers funded these out-of-control expenses and more, while at the same time states cut funding for universities, public safety, health care, schools and services aimed at the neediest residents.
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Driven To Distraction
This seven-month-long investigation revealed serious crashes, injuries and deaths caused by a danger that now exists in virtually every police car in the United States. Dashboard-mounted technology has turned modern patrol cars into offices on wheels. Computers, cameras, GPS devices, radios, smart phones and license plate scanners compete for the officer’s attention while driving, and the consequences of those distractions can be life altering. The series led to significant policy changes at two of the largest police departments in Texas. It sparked action from the world’s largest organization of police leaders. And our reporting also became mandatory safety training viewing for every highway trooper in one state.
Tags: Police; patrol cars; crashes; injuries; deaths; driving safety; highway trooper
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Sun Sentinel: Speeding Cops
A Miami cop in his marked patrol car set off a public fury in the fall of 2011 when a Florida state trooper clocked him going 120 mph to an off-duty job. Turning to technology and a never-before used tool – highway toll records – the Sun Sentinel produced back-to-back investigations documenting widespread police misconduct and the professional solidarity that allowed it to flourish. In "Above the Law," a three-part series published in February, reporters used police toll records to confirm what many South Florida drivers had witnessed for years: cops were among the worst speeders on the roads, taking advantage of the badge and patrol car to ignore the very laws they enforce. "Short Shifted," a two-part series published in December, used those same toll records to detail how many South Florida cops, paid to serve and protect, were regularly leaving their beats and cities before their shifts ended.
Tags: Police; police speeders
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Fraud on the Job
KING 5 dedicated nearly a year to dig into the complex world of the federal minority contracting program. The program is intended to remedy past and current discrimination against minority and women-owned contracting businesses who want a shot at working on federal highway projects. But instead of fostering equal opportunity, KING found staggering fraud and abuse in the taxpayer-funded program. The investigative series titled “Fraud on the Job" was born. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for administering the program. WSDOT contracts with a small state agency, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) to certify which contractors qualify as "disadvantaged business enterprises" or DBEs. They also make sure that once in, the companies aren’t cheating or becoming too big to qualify. The state’s share of billions of federal highway funds comes with some strings attached, including a requirement that a certain percentage of money spent on transportation projects be reserved for minority-owned firms. The results of the “Fraud on the Job” series were swift and extraordinary. Two days after the first story aired, the governor ordered the Washington State Patrol to conduct a criminal fraud investigation. She also ordered a top-to- bottom review of OMWBE. Two weeks later, the governor asked the director of OMWBE to resign. Another top manager quit and another was fired. Two of the companies KING exposed as defrauding the government were removed from the DBE program by the state. State and federal legislation is now being drafted to stop the cheating. And now the FBI and the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation are investigating.
Tags: fraud; government; tax; taxpayer; fund
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Small Town Justice
Jean Claude Meus was convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Florida Highway Patrol put together evidence showing Meus fell asleep at the wheel, lost control of his semi truck and overturned on minivan, killing a mother and daughter. The investigative team interviewed the first witness on the scene of the accident, who said Meus was alert and helpful immediately after the crash. Using evidence obtained from measurements, photos, etc., the asked an outside expert to map the scene and reconstruct the crash. The conclusion? Meus was awake and intentionally steered his truck off the roadway. The story fit with what Meus said, that he had swerved to avoid an oncoming car and lost control before overturning onto the van. When two jurors on the case agreed to meet with the new team and look at the new evidence, they concluded they would not have been able to convict Meus if this information had been presented at trial.
Tags: wrongful conviction; Florida; vehicular homicide; reconstructed evidence; mapping; highway patrol
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Fit to Drive?
According to this Dispatch report, "167 school-bus drivers in Ohio have records of drunken driving or drug abuse." The investigation includes a chart of where in Ohio these drivers operate, and also notes the difficulty "for school officials to check backgrounds on drivers or keep those with drunken-driving convictions out of school buses." Individuals with such histories are profiled.The superintendent of the State Highway Patrol is quoted saying that as someone who has arrested drunken drivers, "I would never want any of these people driving a bus."
Tags: buses; drunk driving; drunk driving convictions; background checks; Ohio bus drivers; school buses
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CHP Contracting
Bee reporters investigate the California Highway Patrol, reporting on topics including "favoritism in bidding practices to ongoing instances of CHP pension fraud, and efforts to crack down on it." As a result of the Bee's work, the state legislature and administration called for further investigations to discover and fix the problems.
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Small Town Justice
A Haitian truck driver, Jean Claude Meus, was convicted of vehicular homicide after a semi he was driving turned over and fell on a minivan, killing a mother and daughter. While no drugs or alcohol were present in his system at the time of the accident, prosecutors were able to push a conviction based on their assertion that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, and was thus driving recklessly. But WTVT-TV investigators "found convincing evidence that (he) did not fall asleep, and in fact, was trying to avoid an accident." An off-duty firefighter was a witness at the scene, and asserted that Meus was "alert and helpful immediately after the crash." Yet the lead investigator, who attended high school with victim Nona Moore, never interview Juan Otero, the off-duty firefighter. With the help of experts, WTVT reconstructed the crash, and the conclusion drawn was that Meus had turned off the road to avoid an obstruction. Further, WTVT spoke with jurors who said that with that new evidence, they would not have voted to convict.
Tags: Unfair trials; Florida Highway Patrol; quick convictions; crash reconstruction; juror bias; investigator bias; racial profiling; all-white jury
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Our Deadly Traffic
The authors investigated why fatality rates on the roads had sky-rocketed in Lee County, FL.
Tags: traffic fatalities; accidents; Department of Transportation; the Florida Highway Patrol; Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
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Pounding the Pavement
An investigation into why trucks, overloaded or just too heavy, are being allowed to tear up the state of North Carolina's roads and bridges driving up maintenance costs.
Tags: trucks; state transportation; road maintenance; State Highway Patrol; NC Department of Transportation; state weighing stations; public safety