Computer-Assisted Reporting Newsletter, 1990–2007
A journalist describes how computer-assisted reporting training helped uncover a drug trend in a Kentucky town by analyzing police data, emphasizing that successful data journalism…
Introduction of OpenInfo, a tool for intranet-based full-text search across newsroom databases, offering a cost-effective and efficient solution for data access.
The IRE and NICAR Data Library assisted multiple broadcast news stations in analyzing various datasets, including crime rates on college campuses, felon hunting licenses, poverty r…
A statistical analysis of jury selection in Dallas County reveals continued racial bias in juror exclusions, highlighting slow progress since a 1986 exposé.
An investigation found that Colorado school districts use narrow legal definitions to exclude serious violent incidents from their public accountability report cards.
IRE and NICAR provide resources and databases for journalists investigating crime statistics and law enforcement, including crime report analysis guides, FBI Uniform Crime Report d…
IRE and NICAR provide journalists with resources including databases, guidebooks, and tipsheets to analyze crime statistics and law enforcement data, such as FBI Uniform Crime Repo…
IRE and NICAR provide resources and databases for journalists to analyze crime statistics and law enforcement data, including the Uniform Crime Report, campus crime data, and guida…
IRE and NICAR provide journalists with resources and databases for analyzing crime statistics and law enforcement data, including the Uniform Crime Report, campus crime data, and g…
The Nashville Tennessean found that two-thirds of police chases violated department safety policies by analyzing paper records that contradicted the department's electronic databas…
A yearlong Post-Dispatch investigation used crime data and budgets to expose systemic incompetence, lack of training, and equipment shortages across St. Louis area police departmen…
The Los Angeles Times used GIS mapping and database analysis to visualize the dense patterns of unsolved homicides in South Los Angeles, leading to a reallocation of police resourc…
A database matching investigation revealed that nearly 1,000 felons in Missouri held hunting licenses despite federal laws against felon firearm ownership.
Dateline NBC investigated racial disparities in traffic stops by analyzing millions of records and using internal benchmarks to identify patterns of suspicion.
A Pittsburgh journalist investigates the city's record homicide rate in 2003, discovering that murders are concentrated in specific neighborhoods and disproportionately involve you…
Reporter Brad Branan used GIS mapping to disprove local official perceptions about crime locations in Tucson, leading to significant law enforcement resource increases.
Reporter Judd Slivka details the difficulties of normalizing crime data from five different federal agencies to investigate public safety in Western parks.
A Baltimore newsroom used MapPoint software to map over 3,500 sex offenders from the state registry, discovering clusters near schools, though they faced technical challenges incor…
The IRE and NICAR Database Library now offers Clery Act Campus Crime data from 2001-2002 containing 19 tables of crime information reported by campus police, which journalists can …
KIRO-Seattle investigated sex offenders living near day-care centers in Washington using mapping analysis to identify registered offenders within one city block of licensed facilit…
Dave Moore explores the racial imbalance in juvenile arrests in Columbia, Mo., finding that African American youths are disproportionately arrested compared to their white counterp…
A data investigation revealed that at least 10% of children listed as missing in a circulation area were not missing at all due to police oversight. This led to uncovering flaws in…
The Birmingham News investigates disparities in federal sentencing, specifically focusing on a case where a white-collar thief received a minimal sentence.
A Duluth journalist uses computer-assisted reporting techniques to analyze arrest data and determine where Superior, Wisconsin's crime problems originate, examining whether extendi…
The Toronto Star received the Michener Award for its 'Race and Crime' series, which used a landmark database request to investigate police racial profiling.
The San Antonio Express-News analyzed traffic stop data, finding that black drivers were three times as likely to be searched as white drivers despite similar contraband find rates…
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated two decades of missing-persons cases in Washington, finding that police negligence and database errors led to unsolved murders and unide…
A journalist used ArcView GIS software to manually map shooting incidents around housing projects in Allentown by creating a point shapefile and joining it to crime data, since inc…
A Tribune-Review investigation using surveying and GIS analysis revealed that Allegheny County's jury selection process systematically underrepresents Black residents, with Black p…
Journalists in San Antonio investigated Bexar County's criminal justice system and discovered thousands of cases were dismissed due to lack of speedy trial, after fighting over a y…
Reporters have leveraged computer-assisted reporting and data analysis, using resources such as the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, to enhance their coverage of national and local cri…
Computer-assisted reporting reveals critical flaws in criminal justice systems, including Texas judges failing to grant speedy trials resulting in suspect releases, racial disparit…
The Washington Post and a University of Missouri student received top investigative reporting honors for data-driven projects on child protection failures and storm water permittin…
The Philadelphia Inquirer used TRAC and PACER data to prove the Department of Justice was inflating terrorism conviction statistics with non-terrorist criminal cases.
This journalism resource guide features two stories: Michael Paterniti's account of the Swissair Flight 111 crash exploring the emotional impact on families and rescue workers, and…
A journalism investigation into New Bedford's drug court system revealed inconsistent sentencing patterns and high recidivism rates, with similar offenders receiving vastly differe…
A journalist with two decades of crime reporting created a comprehensive database of 435 child sexual assault cases to expose the reality that perpetrators are rarely strangers and…
Investigation into Montgomery County's lenient handling of repeat offenders in drunken driving cases, uncovering systemic prosecutorial lapses.
A newspaper's computer-assisted reporting efforts, including analysis of property databases and public records, helped expose corruption in Camden's government, contributing to the…
A CAR investigation exposes how more than 100 sex offenders in Florida live too close to schools and day care centers, violating the 1000-foot rule intended to protect children.
A seven-month investigation into Florida's auto insurance fraud revealed over 4,000 residents involved in at least 1,400 suspicious accidents during the 1990s, exposing a network o…
A Georgia news station used computer-assisted reporting to investigate certified nurse aides with criminal records working in nursing homes, discovering that state law allows hirin…
The IRE Resource Center provides several investigative journalism stories examining racial profiling by police departments, including traffic stops in Seattle, profiling practices …
Journalists discuss their investigation into rampage killings, detailing the challenges of defining terms, accessing incomplete news databases, and lack of social science research,…
The Detroit Free Press investigated racial profiling in suburban police departments by manually collecting and analyzing 3,000 traffic tickets from Harper Woods, Michigan, finding …
A Louisville news organization investigated whether police were disproportionately stopping African-American drivers by matching police dispatch records with handwritten dispatcher…
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune investigates whether Minneapolis police use racial profiling. The report analyzes booking, jail, and sentencing data to determine if more black suspect…
The IRE Resource Center has compiled stories on emerging drug trends including designer drugs, ecstasy culture in major cities, and the growing use of GHB as a date-rape drug, feat…
A reporter used computer-assisted reporting to uncover flawed data in Florida's designer drug death study, revealing that state officials had improperly counted 80 cases unrelated …
The article highlights multiple journalism investigations into prison and jail system problems, including issues with overcrowding, recidivism, and the private prison industry's ac…
An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV found that over 4,900 people in Georgia have received multiple second chances under the First Offender Act since 198…
A reporter and researcher collaborate to analyze prison data by matching Wisconsin inmate records with out-of-state prison populations to investigate whether privatized Tennessee p…
The New York Times published a four-part investigative series analyzing 100 mass murder cases over 50 years, finding greater links to mental illness than violent video games and de…
The Star Tribune overcame significant legal and technical obstacles to build a criminal justice database linking probation and jail records across Minnesota counties, resulting in …
An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette investigation using court databases and case files reveals that repeat offenders often receive multiple convictions before facing prison time, highligh…
A Montana journalist describes how computer-assisted reporting (CAR) enabled him to investigate felons with guns and discover databases unknown to officials, positioning small-mark…
An investigative team explores if local law enforcement keeps its promise to enforce DUI laws by examining case dismissals when police fail to appear in court.
Reporters investigated the criminal backgrounds of public school employees by cross-referencing employment records with state prison and parole databases.
Two major investigative journalism projects: Louisiana newspapers examine environmental regulatory oversight, while Philadelphia Inquirer documents systematic crime classification …
The St. Paul Pioneer Press investigated convicted felons who were illegally hunting in Minnesota and found 236 violent felons who had received hunting permits despite being prohibi…
These journalism investigations examine how illegal guns circulate through various channels including street distribution, law enforcement resales, and unlicensed online dealers.
Sarah Cohen from The Washington Post explains how journalists can access federal firearms databases, including the ATF's Firearms Tracing System and multiple sales gun database, wh…
An investigation into Connecticut's correctional system revealed systemic issues with prisoners escaping from halfway houses, linking this to failures in monitoring and arrest foll…
The Denver Post conducted an investigation following the Columbine massacre, focusing on how police guns became crime guns and detailing the 'Gun Pipeline' of firearms linked to va…
A Swedish financial crime agency created with extensive resources and specialized staff to combat organized crime instead spent its time prosecuting small business owners with book…
A newsroom uses computer-assisted reporting to analyze school district violence and vandalism data, discovering that electronic data access and time management are crucial for time…
This resource guide provides tipsheets on analyzing police staffing and covering crime using computer-assisted reporting (CAR), including guidance on story ideas, data sources, and…
A journalist describes the challenges of obtaining and analyzing 911 dispatch records for a Columbus police response time investigation, including data formatting issues and missin…
The Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse provides comprehensive reports on school safety and crime, including national data on school violence, prevention strategies, and per…
This resource guide provides journalists with links to government databases and reports on school violence, including juvenile justice data, education statistics, and school crime …
A journalist investigates allegations that San Francisco's District Attorney Terence Hallinan is dismissing serious criminal charges through excessive plea-bargaining, using Califo…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's investigation revealed that a Georgia town disproportionately targeted African-Americans for traffic tickets on a single road, generating $860,00…
Federal law requires colleges to report annual crime statistics including violent crimes and drug/weapons violations, though the self-reported data should be verified against polic…
This article provides guidance on crime reporting resources, including a Star Tribune investigation on repeat offenders and multiple tipsheets covering crime mapping, investigation…
Explores the issue of repeat offenders in Minnesota, focusing on the lack of prison sentences for felonies and crimes committed on probation. Uses data analysis to link multiple cr…
A hidden camera investigation reveals that pharmacists who make potentially fatal medication errors often escape disciplinary action because lawsuits target pharmacies rather than …
NICAR's Data Library has released updates to FBI Uniform Crime Reports (1980, 1990, 1993-97) containing detailed crime statistics across six databases with information on crime typ…
The Philadelphia Inquirer's investigation into falsified crime statistics revealed that the city had systematically undercounted crimes for decades, with police finally admitting t…
The Washington Post investigated police killings in Washington D.C. during the 1990s by examining FBI crime data, discovering that justifiable homicide records were initially missi…
Sacramento Bee reporters analyzed police crime data by subdistrict to identify neighborhood crime patterns and trends, then conducted community interviews to provide context and de…
Crime mapping helps readers assess neighborhood safety by visualizing either crime rates across areas or plotting specific incidents; The Virginian-Pilot successfully uses crime-ra…
A newspaper's 17-month computer-assisted reporting project to analyze Omaha crime data from 13 million mainframe records, overcoming government resistance and data cleaning challen…
IRE and NICAR are launching initiatives to improve crime reporting through data-driven journalism and partnerships with public health experts, while also announcing upcoming nation…
A collection of web resources compiled by a journalist for crime beat reporting, including links to criminal justice databases, statistics sources, crime mapping tools, and law enf…
This journalism article provides a guide to the best online resources for accessing crime statistics and data, including major sources like the FBI, Bureau of Justice Statistics, a…
A Louisville jail death investigation revealed that nearly 90 percent of the jail's guards had been disciplined for workplace violations, with serious punishment rarely enforced du…
Police departments in major U.S. cities have resisted releasing electronic crime data to news organizations despite publicizing crime reductions, with Philadelphia's Daily News eve…
Challenges the FBI's secrecy and lack of accountability, using data analysis and the Freedom of Information Act to access and evaluate FBI enforcement actions.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigated deaths of inmates under privatized correctional health care, finding that obtaining information about doctors with disciplinary histories r…
The Philadelphia Police Department has systematically misclassified crimes to artificially lower reported crime statistics, which The Philadelphia Inquirer exposed through data ana…
The Evansville Courier pioneered weekly crime mapping on the web to expand coverage of neighborhood crimes beyond major incidents, partnering with local police to visualize crime d…
The Miami Herald's 1997 investigation into Miami police officers fraudulently adding their names to arrest reports to collect court overtime led to the largest disciplinary action …
Dateline NBC's award-winning investigation uncovered an illegal scheme by Louisiana sheriff deputies who misused drug forfeiture funds for personal expenses, including a luxury ski…
A three-month investigation by WEWS-TV reporter Ted Hart uncovered hundreds of convicted felons employed in local government positions, including 375 in Cleveland and 151 in Cuyaho…
The Miami Herald investigated unusual voting patterns in Miami's 1997 mayoral election, uncovering over 300 fraudulent or suspicious ballots including votes from dead people, non-r…
A Houston newsroom used computer-assisted reporting to analyze Texas sex offender registration data, creating a searchable database and pamphlet to help viewers identify registered…
A Phoenix TV station conducted a four-month computer-assisted investigation that uncovered paramedics and EMTs who falsified their criminal histories on job applications, revealing…
The Philadelphia Inquirer discovered errors in Pennsylvania crime statistics after initially misreporting a 17 percent crime decrease in Delaware County, leading them to conduct a …
An investigation into bankruptcy abuse in Sweden reveals it as a tool for economic criminality, highlighting challenges in proving cases and detailing involved business networks.
The Palm Beach Post discovered that Florida's 1996 crime statistics were significantly flawed because the state included police departments that failed to submit reports or submitt…
A newsroom explains how they build and maintain comprehensive crime databases from police departments and government agencies, then use data analysis to identify trends, track crim…
This article provides guidance on using publicly available crime and safety data from sources like the FBI and local police to evaluate community safety, track crime trends, and in…
Naomi Aoki discusses efforts by The Virginian-Pilot to provide readers with a more accurate picture of crime trends in the South Hampton Roads region through regular reporting on c…
A collection of short items including a story about an Indiana court clerk's refusal to release public records and multiple job listings for journalists with CAR skills.
The Sun-Sentinel analyzed 70,000 pawn slips from Fort Lauderdale in 1995 to investigate the link between pawnshops and property crime, finding that 39 of the top 50 frequent pawner…
TRAC's IRS criminal enforcement website offers four main navigation options including roadmaps, data graphics, downloadable datasets, and topic-based, district-based, or comparativ…
Orange County Register reporters uncovered illegal egg transfers at a fertility clinic without patients' consent, using creative investigative techniques including database constru…
A Pulitzer Prize finalist investigation by Dayton Daily News reporters revealed that the U.S. military systematically shielded hundreds of sex offenders, including child molesters,…
The Orange County Register's investigation into fraudulent egg transfers at UC-Irvine's fertility center required innovative reporting techniques to locate victims and obtain medic…
The Chicago Reporter created a custom database to track hate crimes in Chicago, revealing trends and failures in state data collection.
Jeff Green of The Oakland Press built his own crime database by collecting data directly from 60 local police departments in Oakland County, finding it cleaner and more accurate th…
A reporter in the U.S. Virgin Islands used computer analysis of court records to expose systemic failures in the criminal justice system, finding that few violent crimes resulted i…
A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by Melvin Claxton at the Virgin Islands Daily News exposed systemic failures in the Caribbean territory's criminal justice system by using co…
Dayton Daily News reporters Russell Carollo and Cheryl Reed uncovered that hundreds of military convicts were collecting paychecks while imprisoned, totaling over $1 million monthl…
The Columbus Dispatch's investigation into municipal court data exposed widespread injustices including illegal jailing of poor people and secret cash deals for drunk drivers, requ…
The article describes how media organizations, government agencies, and online resources provided coverage and background information about the Oklahoma City bombing, including det…
The Miami Herald's investigation of Dade County's criminal justice system used 10 different criminal databases to reveal that convicted felons were significantly less likely to go …
Journalists debate how to properly interpret FBI crime data, particularly regarding which assault categories to include in local crime analyses, with experts emphasizing the import…
Armstrong reveals safety failures in elevators and escalators through data analysis, leading to significant state-level repercussions.
Journalists increasingly analyze crime statistics themselves, but face significant challenges with data accuracy, as demonstrated by errors in FBI crime databases including missing…
The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) launched a new online gopher service providing access to information from multiple Office of Justice agencies including juve…
NICAR provides access to comprehensive FBI crime statistics from 1994 organized across five detailed databases, along with Federal Death records from the Social Security Administra…
In 1994, CAR reporting concentrated on crime coverage, with notable investigations including the Wisconsin State Journal's examination of crime and socioeconomic factors in Madison…
Ralph Frammolino discusses the application of computer-assisted reporting (CAR) in creating a detailed jury profile for the O.J. Simpson trial, highlighting the effectiveness of ne…
The Drugs and Crime Data Center has published an online document containing over 1,500 street terms related to drugs and drug trade activities, accessible via FTP.
The FBI will release its 1993 crime statistics in late November, with NICAR planning to be first to obtain the data across five databases covering homicides, property crimes, demog…
The News Tribune analyzed drive-by shooting data from Tacoma and Pierce County police using database reporting techniques, discovering approximately 200 incidents over a year rathe…
A Wisconsin newspaper describes how it used computer-assisted reporting and traditional investigative methods to examine urban problems in Madison through a multi-part series calle…
The Akron Beacon Journal completed a year-long investigation examining racial disparities across multiple dimensions including crime, race relations, living conditions, health, edu…
An in-depth examination of violent crime in Tacoma using a database provided by the Law Enforcement Support Agency, highlighting areas of high crime and trends in violence.
Winners of this year's IRE reporting competition exposed workplace safety failures and racial profiling in law enforcement through investigative journalism using computer-assisted …
The Hartford Courant developed a database to investigate unsolved murders of minority women, discovering patterns suggesting a possible serial killer and prompting police attention…
A Minneapolis Star-Tribune investigation found that nearly one-third of rapists who underwent Minnesota's treatment programs were re-arrested within three years, compared to a one-…
A San Jose Mercury News computer-assisted analysis of nearly 700,000 California criminal cases over nine years found that white defendants receive significantly better plea bargain…
Reporters at the Dayton Daily News investigated DUI cases in Ohio, revealing systematic issues in enforcement and the possibility for repeat offenses even after convictions.
The Boston Herald and other newspapers face challenges with data entry for computer-assisted reporting projects, with some looking into scanners as potential solutions to improve a…
St. Petersburg Times reporters used computer-assisted techniques to investigate the abuse of a Florida state statute allowing criminal records to be sealed, uncovering widespread m…
Crime reporter Scott North of The Herald used computer-assisted reporting and database analysis to investigate drug cases in Snohomish County, uncovering that drug offenders were d…