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 "sheriffs" ...
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Broken Justice in Phillips County
A five-part series preceded by an initial investigation into dysfunction in the criminal justice system in an Arkansas Delta county known for corruption and poverty. The year-long investigation uncovered errors and archaic practices in the handling of fugitive warrants and speedy trials that allowed felony suspects to remain free for years without fear of answering to the charges against them. As a result, prosecutors had to drop hundreds of cases for failure to take them to trial in a timely manner. Since publication, the Phillips County sheriff has made changes in how his office handles failure-to-appear warrants, and court officials have reduced case backlogs. Nevertheless, problems persist.
Tags: Criminal justice system; corruption; poverty; fugitive warrants
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Louisiana Horror Movie
“Louisiana’s Horror Movie” grew out of our 2011 IRE award winning investigation “Hiding Behind the Badge”. That series ended with the guilty pleas of former Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Jiff Hingle and businessman Aaron Bennett. Through investigative determination, “Louisana’s Horror Movie” uncovered possible public corruption by a former FBI agent and looked at his questionable relationship with the Hingle. What led us to this discovery was a piece of “Hiding Behind the Badge” we felt had not been fully explored: the money Hingle made from the B.P. oil spill. Even after the initial stories were reported, we felt there was more there. So we kept digging. It wasn’t February of 2012 that we uncovered Hingle's ties to former FBI agent, Robert Isakson. We requested emails, looking for more information to connect the dots. We had to fight the current sheriff’s office for the emails and eventually got them. The emails helped us show an improper relationship between the Hingle and Isakson – now a businessman getting contracts from Plaquemines Parish. This series eventually launched another FBI investigation, this time with Isakson in the crosshairs.
Tags: FBI; FBI agents; corruption; broadcast
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Drug Under the Rug
A four-month investigation into the whereabouts of Athens County law enforcement agencies' seizures and forfeitures of items obtained during drug busts revealed that many, particularly the Sheriff, failed to report these items to the Attorney General's Office and could not account for the whereabouts of these items when questioned.
Tags: Drugs; drug busts; forfeitures
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St. Bernard Voting Fraud
In an effort to preserve the sense of community in St. Bernard, and other similar parishes affected by Hurricane Katrina, the state passed legislation allowing residents to continue to vote at their previous residences, even if they were living outside of the parish during the rebuilding process. Fast forward six years. 2011. The rebuilding of St. Bernard continues, but with a post-Katrina population of 35,000, the parish has a fraction of its former residents. While some property owners have returned, many have moved to St. Tammany Parish. This is where WVUE's investigation begins. The investigative team received a tip that a St. Bernard Sheriff's Department employee lived in St. Tammany Parish, but was still voting in St. Bernard. This tip came right after the primary in St. Bernard's critical fall elections. The WVUE-TV team requested all voting records for the election, and found out that the deputy was the tip of the iceberg; illegal voting was widespread.
Tags: broadcast; voter fraud; Hurricane Katrina
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MCSO Sex Crimes Unit Investigation
We uncovered that Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Sex Crimes Unit detectives failed to investigate hundreds of sex crimes cases. Not only were hundreds not investigated, but many were cleared in a way so they would be reported along with arrest numbers giving the public the appearance the cases were solved.
Tags: sex crimes; detectives
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Right to Die
9News questioned the decisions of a small town sheriff who refused to help a family remove their 91-year-old father after he had locked himself into his home. The man was suffering from potential dementia, dehydration, and malnourishment. The family thought the man would die if he did not recieve medical attention and convinced a judge he should issue an order requiring he be hospitalized. The sheriff argued the man had the "right to die" if he wanted to and upheld the court order.
Tags: Right to Die
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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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Debt-uty crisis
The four-day series detailed the controversial origins of the Knox County Sheriff's Office Pension Plan -- called the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan, UOPP -- and the ramifications its approval had on county finances. The series looked at how the plan was sold to the public on lies and bad information.
Tags: pension plan; sheriffs; Knox County
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Solving A 1964 Cold Case: Mystery of Frank Morris
This investigation, partnered with the Concordia Sentinel, CBC Radio and NPR digs into the cold case of Frank Morris, thought to be murdered by Ku Klux Klan members, all for refusing to work on a deputy sheriff's cowboy boots.
Tags: Cold case project; KKK; multimedia
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Hiding Behind the Badge
"WVUE's investigation revealed that a sheriff was falsifying campaign documents and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his donors. They also connected the sheriff to a businessman and showed how the businessman's company over-billed the sheriff for hundreds of thousands of dollars of work, but was still paid."