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 "off-duty" ...
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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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No Show Policing
The police chief of one of New Jersey's largest cities billed taxpayers for tens of thousands of dollars a year for off-duty "detail work", much of which was never actually performed. Subsequent reporting uncovered that a handful of influential officers, including the heads of both police unions, also enriched themselves in this way. Police records were also so sloppy that it appears taxpayers paid some officers double for working (or, in some cases, not working) the exact same hours.
Tags: taxpayers; police; off-duty; News Jersey
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Moonlighting deputies funnel cash to sheriff
Deputies working off-duty paid details at places such as Walgreens and Wal-Mart all pay Sheriff Marlin Gusman one dollar for every hour they work, providing Gusman with about $100,000 in discretionary money each year. Gusman, who often pleads penury in running his office, uses the detail money to throw parties for his staff and hire cheerleaders -- such expenditure is illegal, the Attorney General's Office has opined.
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Disorderly Conduct
The investigation documented the unreported abuses at Miami Beach Police Department including officers shoplifting, sleeping on duty, and harassing gay men.
Tags: police; police officer; abuse; Miami; off-duty
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Off Duty Cops
For many years, abusive and illegal activity by officers of the Chicago Police Department has gone largely unchecked. This story highlighted two recent cases in which Chicagoans were beaten by off-duty cops, yet the "wall of silence" protected those officers until security camera videos of the events led to a public outcry. The story tried to show that these were not isolated incidents but were actually typical of the culture of the Chicago PD.
Tags: police brutality; illegal activity; Chicago Police Department; wall of silence; civilian compliant data; Police Complaint Center;
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Police Beatings Caught on Tape: the Pictures that Chaged the Chicago Police Department
FOX News Chicago discovered footage of an off duty officer beating a female bartender. They then "investigated the circumstances of the beating, the apparent lack of an appropriate police department response both at the time and during the investigation of the officer, and how other city employees may have tried to cover up the incident."
Tags: police department; internal investigation; beating; assault; police officer; Chicago Police Department; police beating
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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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Policing Hollywood
The author investigated the Hollywood (FL) Police Department. The three articles look at the cronyism and nepotism in the police force and the firm grip the Police Benevolent Associationon held on the police force. The union largely runs the police force and those that don't fall in step are punished, while loyalists are rewarded with promotions and lucrative off-duty deals even if their police work is sub-standard.
Tags: nepotism; cronyism; Hollywood (FL) Police Department; Police Benevolent Association; criminal convictions; psychological evaluations; police unions; public records
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Beating of Frank Jude Jr.
Following the vicious beating of Frank Jude Jr., allegedly by a group of off-duty police officers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel launched its investigation of the screening processes for hiring police officers. In most departments, officers are required to undergo psychological screening before joining the force. What reporters found was that, in many cases (including the case of the officers accused of beating Frank Jude Jr.), officers do not undergo any psychological screening and don't even go through an oral interview before joining the force.
Tags: CAR; police screening; psychological screening; police aid program; police training; internal investigations
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No Sense of Justice
These stories found that no police shooting inquest in Milwaukee over the past twenty years ever resulted in criminal charges. In one case, an off-duty police officer shot and killed someone who tried to steal his lawnmower; the officer was let off with no consequences. The investigation found several cases in which the juries did not completely acquit the police officer, but still the shootings were written off as justifiable. Besides exposing this problem, the investigation offers some suggestions for reform.
Tags: police brutality; force; self-defense; shooting; excessive force; justice; courts