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.
-
Police Departments Try To Walk The Line Between Reform, Public SafetyMinneapolis 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.
-
The death of Breonna Taylor energized a nationwide movement to restrict "no-knock" police raids, but activists want tightened rules for other kinds of forced-entry search warrants. -
The death of Breonna Taylor has inspired a wave of legislation around the country to stop "no-knock" police raids. But activists are realizing that a simple ban by itself might not do much.
-
Portland and Seattle were the epicenter of summer protests over police misconduct, which included frequent vandalism and clashes with law enforcement. Things are quieter and we explore what's changed.
-
Joe Biden said on the campaign trail that he was for reforming policing — but not defunding it. NPR discusses what federal actions on law enforcement might be taken under a President Biden.
-
Uniformed police are generally not allowed around polling places, and the Pentagon doesn't want to get involved. Still, they're getting ready if things get out of control. -
Uniformed police are generally not allowed around polling places, and the Pentagon doesn't want to get involved. Still, authorities are getting ready if things get out of control.
-
President Trump calls himself the "law-and-order" candidate, and major police unions have endorsed him. Some worry that kind of political alignment may undermine the police's legitimacy.
-
Outrage over grand jury findings in the Breonna Taylor case resurfaced old doubts about the uniquely American legal institution. Why do we have the citizen panels, and are they really independent?
-
NYPD Study: Implicit Bias Training Changes Minds, Not Necessarily BehaviorThe NYPD has released the biggest study to date of the effectiveness of implicit bias training. The results suggest the popular training can change attitudes but not necessarily how policing is done.
