Beenish Ahmed
Criminal Justice ReporterBeenish Ahmed is Michigan Public's Criminal Justice reporter. Since 2016, she has been a reporter for WNYC Public Radio in New York and also a freelance journalist. Her stories have appeared on NPR, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, VICE and The Daily Beast. Additionally, Beenish spent two years in Islamabad, Pakistan, working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, covering the country’s first democratic transition of power as well as Pakistan's education system.
Much of her reporting has focused on covering under-reported stories and adding nuance to major headlines. That included covering stories related to DACA and the #MeToo movement as well as reporting on the personal challenges Muslims in metro Detroit faced in taking a public stand against President Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban.”
She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. She was also a Spencer Fellow at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, and an NPR Kroc Fellow.
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Mental health advocate Kevin Fischer describes two very different encounters between his son, Dominique, and the police. -
We asked experts to analyze the police response to Porter Burks, which began with a calm introduction and ended with 38 shots fired. -
Following the police killing of a young man with schizophrenia several months ago, Michigan Radio collected resources to find support for people in mental health crisis. -
After a year in the Wayne County Jail, Darrell Ewing filed a lawsuit against the jail administration, claiming the denial of in-person visits is unconstitutional. -
The report by the Prison Policy Initiative found that phone rates for people incarcerated at the Berrien County Jail were at least 3.5 times higher than other counties in Michigan. -
“You're scared to jump in the shower because you don't want to catch pneumonia." -
The lawsuit centers on a 2021 city ordinance that requires a detailed report to be made public 14 days prior to holding public hearings or meetings about any new surveillance technology. -
Contenders for seats on the circuit, appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court made an unlikely campaign stop this week, appealing to registered voters in pre-trial detention. -
An agreement between the ACLU and Detroit’s 36th District Court will require judges to limit the use of cash bail, and make transparent decisions about affordability when it is used. -
The gun detection program has been controversial, with claims that the technology is disproportionately placed in communities of color, and that it hasn’t resulted in significant leads or arrests.
