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Embedded Host Kelly McEvers takes a story from the news and goes deep. Whether that means digging into the Trump administration's past, the stories behind police shootings caught on video, or visiting a town ravaged by the opioid epidemic, Embedded takes you where the news is happening.
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Host Kelly McEvers takes a story from the news and goes deep. Whether that means digging into the Trump administration's past, the stories behind police shootings caught on video, or visiting a town ravaged by the opioid epidemic, Embedded takes you where the news is happening.

Most Recent Episodes

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

Former Police Commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department John Mueller and former head of the Yonkers' NAACP Karen Edmonson. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

The series concludes: we check back in with John Mueller after his resignation as head of the Yonkers Police Department. And we consider what his departure means for police reform efforts in the city at a time when tensions between police and some members of the community remain high.

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

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Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

Social worker with the FDNY, Morgan Nevins, goes out on a mental health call. Cities across the country are trying alternatives to the police to respond to mental health crises. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

In Yonkers, as in the rest of the country, a substantial number of police calls involve situations where someone is having a mental health crisis. But are cops the right people to answer those calls? A growing number of cities across the country think the answer might be "No." Some have launched crisis response programs that offer alternatives to the police for non-violent mental health emergencies. But in Yonkers, for now, the police still handle these calls. In this episode, Embedded, along with its series partner, The Marshall Project, looks at what happens when the police are the only option people have. And we ask: when it comes to how much the police "police," is less more?

Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

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Changing the Police: Charlie Walker's Plan

Lieutenant Charles Walker has worked for years to recruit more black officers into the Yonkers Police Department José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Changing the Police: Charlie Walker's Plan

Every four years, the Yonkers Police Department starts the process of hiring new officers. This time, the department is specifically recruiting people of color through a program known as "Be The Change." Of course in Yonkers, there are plenty of Black people who don't feel it's up to them to "change" a department that has a long history of misconduct. But there's also a strong community of Black officers who question whether reform is possible until the Yonkers Police more accurately reflect the community they serves. In this episode, Embedded, in partnership with the Marshall Project, explores why there are so few officers of color on the Yonkers police force and why even those who've made it onto the force often feel the odds are stacked against them.

Changing the Police: Charlie Walker's Plan

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Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

Karen Edmonson, the former head of the Yonker's NAACP, gathered complaints of police misconduct in Yonkers. Her efforts led to a federal Department of Justice investigation José A. Alvarado Jr./José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr./José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

For a long time, the police department in Yonkers, New York had a reputation as overly aggressive, especially when it came to policing the poorer parts of the city. There were lots of stories of "bad apples"-police officers who allegedly roughed people up or planted drugs during random stops and arrests. Eventually, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to investigate. Now the Yonkers Police Department says it is transforming. With the help of a progressive police chief, it has adopted new policies and procedures to minimize force and make the police more accountable to the public. As Embedded, in partnership with The Marshall Project, continues its look at police reform in one American city, we confront a question many of those who say they were mistreated by the police have raised: is it enough? For some alleged victims the answer is clear: there can never be real reform until the police have fully accounted for the wrongs of the past.

Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

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Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show
José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show

Episode 1 takes listeners to Yonkers, New York, a city with a long and ugly history of bad policing. The Justice Department has demanded an overhaul of the department and has been monitoring it for more than a decade. The commissioner in Yonkers has promised to do what the feds want and more. He has promised to "reform" policing in Yonkers and turn his officers into guardians of the community, accountable to its citizens. Can it be done and what does this kind of reform even look like?

Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show

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Coming Soon: Changing The Police

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Kelly Manno/Kelly Manno

Coming Soon: Changing The Police

In a new multi-part series, Embedded listeners will get to know the Yonkers Police Department, located just outside New York City. For over a decade, the department has been monitored by the federal government because of its history of misconduct. A new generation of leaders say they are fixing what's been broken in Yonkers and will soon finish the reform process. But what does this really mean and how will it change things?

Coming Soon: Changing The Police

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Capital Gazette: "All Of A Sudden... It's Different"

Dana Winters Rengers, left, holds the hand of her niece Montana Winters Geimer, right, daughter of Wendi Winters, a community beat reporter who died in the Capital Gazette newsroom shooting, as she speaks during a news conference following the sentencing verdict of Jarrod W. Ramos, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, in Annapolis, Md. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

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Jose Luis Magana/AP

Capital Gazette: "All Of A Sudden... It's Different"

Part 5: There's one important part of the newspaper's story we couldn't bring you until now: what it's like to have their attacker stand trial. And the unexpected ways that trial can affect you. Plus a big update about the newspaper itself.

Capital Gazette: "All Of A Sudden... It's Different"

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On Our Watch: Under Color of Law

Rev. Wanda Johnson's son, Oscar Grant, was shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer on January 1, 2009. The recordings of the internal investigation were not released until this year, when NPR member station KQED forced BART to comply with California's "The Right to Know Act," a 2019 police transparency law. Nicole Xu for NPR hide caption

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Nicole Xu for NPR

On Our Watch: Under Color of Law

One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant's back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. Now, a lawsuit filed by NPR member station KQED has forced BART to comply with California's 2019 police transparency law, and release never-before-heard tapes from inside that investigation.

On Our Watch: Under Color of Law

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On Our Watch: The Brady Rule
Nicole Xu for NPR

On Our Watch: The Brady Rule

Fellow officers long suspected a veteran detective in Antioch, Calif., was leaking operational police secrets to a drug dealer. For years, the department didn't act on their concerns. Even after the detective was finally fired in 2017, his record remained secret. In episode six of On Our Watch we look at the incentives departments have to investigate dishonest cops and what the secrecy around police misconduct means for criminal defendants who are prosecuted on their testimony.

On Our Watch: The Brady Rule

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On Our Watch: Neglect of Duty
Nicole Xu for NPR

On Our Watch: Neglect of Duty

An officer is repeatedly disciplined for not turning in his police reports on time. A mom goes to the police asking for help with her missing daughters. In the fifth episode of On Our Watch, we look at what can happen when police don't follow through on reports of victimization, and an accountability process that doesn't want to examine those failures.

On Our Watch: Neglect of Duty

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