The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets 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. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "police" ...
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Policing the Police
This tipsheets lays out ten important things to keep in mind when investigating police and police corruption.
Tags: Police; policies; internal affairs; data; squad car video
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Policing the police: Uncovering law enforcement
Get tips on how to ask questions about informants, search warrants and seizures, disciplinary actions, and lawsuits so that you can police the police in your community.
Tags: cops; law enforcement corruption; search warrants; informants
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How to find a Serial Killer
"If you work in a medium- to large-size city, the odds are very good that there are unsolved serial killings in your community." Hargrove gives quick tips on how to search for unsolved murders.
Tags: cold case; serial killer; unsolved murders; "pattern blindness"
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Strategies for Covering the Police Beat and Doing Quick Enterprise Stories
Get tips from Thompson, an IRE award winning reporter, that include getting your hands on police documents(blank ones are important too), riding along with officers on duty, and acquiring the best sources.
Tags: police beat; courthouse beat; cops; police department; police documents
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(More than 5) Databases for criminal justice reporting
Roberts discusses the "data-rich" nature of the criminal justice beat, identifying several key databases for reporters. Examples include 911 response data, jail bookings, jury selection transcripts, National Corrections Reporting program and many more
Tags: crime; arrest; jail; courts; police; criminal justice; violent offenders; sexual offenders; prison; inmates; judicial reporting; NACJD; NCRP; jury; juries; court docket
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Check your sources: Figuring out what criminal justice data and documents really say
Gabrielson's tipsheet addresses identifying the shortcomings in data - specifically criminal justice data. Gabrielson points out common mistakes made when using the data, and how to avoid them.
Tags: Uniform Crime Reports; police records; Federal Bureau of Investigations; FBI; clearance rates; clearance rates; conviction rates
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Criminal justice investigations: tips from unexpected people and documents
This tipsheet touches on unexpected people and documents in criminal justice reporting. "Rivalries and jealousies open the door to tips and document leaks for well-positioned reporters." Diedrich details a number of these type of sources and materials.
Tags: crime; justice; police; Federal Bureau of Investigation; probation agents; judges; clerks; convicts; warrants; arrest reports; autopsy records; indictments; trial exhibits
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How to investigate police crime reporting and statistics: a cookbook
This tipsheet is a great primer for anyone covering cops and crime and utilizing the FBI's Uniform Crime Report(UCR). Thompson and Eiserer identify the preliminary legwork to do so your ready to cover stories as they arise.
Tags: Uniform Crime Reports (UCR); police; crime; assault; burglary; robbery; police reports; federal funding
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CAR stories for every newsroom
Off suggests data and stories that can be used in every newsroom to cover stories on such topics as: school call to police; dam inspections; group homes; property records and many more.
Tags: CAR; computer-assisted reporting; quick hits;
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Hidden crimes: UCR data, and what’s not there
This tipsheet addresses use of the Uniform Crime Reports, pointing out it "is only as good as the agencies that report data. Police in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and St. Louis have been caught hiding crimes to make the cities look safer than they really were." Fazlollah addresses how to spot problems with the data.
Tags: Federal Bureau of investigations; FBI; Uniform Crime Reports; UCR; statistcs; crime reporting; advanced techniques