Martin Kaste
Martin Kaste is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. He covers law enforcement and privacy. He has been focused on police and use of force since before the 2014 protests in Ferguson, and that coverage led to the creation of NPR's Criminal Justice Collaborative.
In addition to criminal justice reporting, Kaste has contributed to NPR News coverage of major world events, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the 2011 uprising in Libya.
Kaste has reported on the government's warrant-less wiretapping practices as well as the data collection and analysis that go on behind the scenes in social media and other new media. His privacy reporting was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 United States v. Jones ruling concerning GPS tracking.
Before moving to the West Coast, Kaste spent five years as NPR's reporter in South America. He covered the drug wars in Colombia, the financial meltdown in Argentina, the rise of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and the fall of Haiti's president Jean Bertrand Aristide. Throughout this assignment, Kaste covered the overthrow of five presidents in five years.
Prior to joining NPR in 2000, Kaste was a political reporter for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul for seven years.
Kaste is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
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Public health data experts have a new way to calculate the underreporting of people killed by police. Criminologists call the results "interesting" but are reserving judgment on the accuracy. -
Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole in 1972. On Friday, the California Board of Parole recommended parole. -
After the murder of George Floyd, Minneapolis leaders pledged to dismantle the city's police department. Residents disagree on what that should look like. -
Some blame the U.S.'s high rate of police shootings on racism or militarism. But another theory says there's a simpler problem: American police aren't taught how to grapple with armed suspects. -
Almost a year after identity thieves made off with tens of billions of dollars in COVID-19 unemployment relief, the system remains vulnerable. And scammers are coming to light now during tax time. -
As experts compile last year's data for gun buying and shooting, the debate grows over whether the two are connected. -
Many in law enforcement have cheered on former President Donald Trump. After his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, some say police expressions of that support threaten police legitimacy. -
Some officers are being investigated over involvement at the protests, while others fought off protesters who once supported them.
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In an exclusive interview with NPR, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia describes how investigators are building their case. -
Minneapolis and other cities promised to cut police funding following this summer's racial justice protests, but rising violent crime has complicated efforts to overhaul police departments.
