Martin Kaste

At the heart of Peace Officer, a new documentary out this month, stands a man named William "Dub" Lawrence. A former sheriff, Lawrence comes off as a somber figure — a man capable of calmly reconstructing the death of his suicidal son-in-law, who was shot in a standoff with ...

The New York Police Department is rolling out a new policy to record officers' use of force. The strategy has already been implemented in L.A. and Seattle. Advocates say it's an effec...

Europe is desperate to stop the flow of refugees from Syria, and that means countering ISIS and also ousting Bashar al-Assad. Russia's military action to prop up Assad is making things difficult.

The ambush killing of a sheriff's deputy in Texas has intensified concern in some circles that criticism of police has led to an increase in officer deaths. But the data don't back up that fear.

For all the talk of police militarization, no reliable statistics exist on the number of raids by SWAT or other heavily armed tactical teams. There are no federal or state tallies — except in Utah.

Does legalization of marijuana mean more drivers will have the drug in their system? New data from Washington state says yes, but does that mean pot has caused more accidents? The answer is unclear.

The legal justification for this crackdown is the state's ban on indoor smoking in public places, but the reasons go beyond smoking. The city says the lounges are also magnets for crime.

A University of Cincinnati officer faces murder charges for the traffic stop death of Samuel DuBose, and now critics are questioning the growing trend of giving campus cops weapons.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced the closure of the Baltimore City Men's Detention Center on Thursday. The jail, which is run by the state, has been plagued by corruption and deplorable conditions.

The arrest of a University of Cincinnati police officer for murder illustrates the new reality for cops: with public pressure and video evidence, they may no longer get the benefit of the doubt.

Waller County, Texas, released new jailhouse surveillance videos Tuesday, in part to counter online rumors that the 28-year-old African-American woman was already dead when she arrived at the jail.

About 1,000 people die in American jails every year and about a third of those are suicides. Jails often house people who've never been in legal trouble before, and it can have a traumatic effect.

A police dash cam video has been released in the case of Sandra Bland, the woman who was later found dead in a Texas jail. The video shows tension quickly escalating between Bland and the trooper.

Sandra Bland was found dead in a Texas jail last week. Her jailers say the African American woman committed suicide. But the case has triggered a wave of suspicion on social media.

After Sandra Bland was discovered dead in her Texas jail cell this week, the county medical examiner ruled it a suicide. But her family is questioning that finding — and the FBI is investigating.

California is trying to do just that, though police and advocates for ex-offenders are at odds over whether it will work. The debate is playing out as President Obama is calling for nationwide change.

Violent crime has ticked up in certain metro areas. Police are scrambling to hold the line while at the same time trying not to appear overzealous.

#NPRreads is a weekly feature on Twitter and on The Two-Way. The premise is simple: Correspondents, editors and producers throughout our newsroom share pieces that have kept them reading. They share tidbits using the #NPRreads hashtag — and on Fridays, we highlight some of the best stories.

This week, ...

There's a new kind of phone scam on the rise: fraudsters using fake numbers to pretend they're calling from the local police department. And there's little the real police can do about it.

Viral video of a white police officer in McKinney, Texas, holding down a black teenage girl is generating controversy and raising questions about how and when police use force.