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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The order will be signed Wednesday, the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd while in police custody. But it only applies to federal law enforcement — not local forces -
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. -
Police departments are facing a new reality in the era of coronavirus. As familiar categories of crime fade, officers are being asked to handle unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable new assignments.
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The federal government on Tuesday released the annual National Crime Victimization Survey. The 2018 data show a big jump in reports of sexual assault and rape. -
There's a new push to study the real-life effects of gun laws. "Red Flag" laws lower suicide rates; reductions in homicides are associated with tougher gun permit requirements. -
At an unveiling in Seattle, online retail giant Amazon announced its entry into the smartphone market with a new device called "Fire."
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Two years ago, the Missoula county attorney defied the DOJ's efforts to force his office to change the way it handles sexual assault cases. Today, the county won a partial victory.
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Officers are wearing video cameras to record interactions with the public. The city's troubled police department is trying to prove a commitment to transparency, as it tries to end federal monitoring.
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A Montana man says he was justified in shooting a prowler, a German exchange student, in his garage. The case has revived the debate over how far Americans should be able to go to defend their homes.
