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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Police reformers say the cameras ensure transparency when it comes to officer conduct. But as departments are pressured to release vast stores of videos, privacy concerns are raised.
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Since the Ferguson, Mo., shooting, there have been renewed calls for police departments to hire more blacks and other minorities. But recruiters say there's a shortage of candidates.
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The machine, the biggest of its type, was digging a tunnel under the city when it went kaput. To get to and fix Bertha, workers are digging a 12-story pit, which some say is damaging nearby buildings.
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Thanksgiving menus traditionally celebrate the bounty of late fall. In rural Alaska, that means walrus, moose, fermented fish heads and Eskimo ice cream — salmonberries mixed with Crisco. -
The troopers who police rural Alaska can't do their jobs without a good bush pilot to fly them into remote areas. In Bristol Bay, that pilot is John Bouker. -
When it comes to police using force, what is acceptable and when? And are police too aggressive? Cops say they're trying to survive, but reformers say aggressive cop culture is making things worse.
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The protests following Michael Brown's death have rekindled long-standing complaints about racist policing in the St. Louis area. Cops there are now becoming more outspoken in their own defense. -
The Freemasons are arguably one of the world's most famous men's organizations. Membership has been falling in the U.S. since the 1960s, but millennials are now showing an interest in the fraternity. -
Amid accusations of abuse, many in Ferguson, Mo., and cities around the country are calling for police to wear cameras. Cameras may not always be as impartial as people expect, however. -
Several red states, including Louisiana, have been diverting some offenders away from prison and into drug treatment and other incarceration alternatives. But not everyone is embracing the effort.
