Philadelphia police are trying a new strategy to bring down the murder rate

Philadelphia police are trying a new strategy to bring down the murder rate

　　Transcript¹

　　Philadelphia last year broke its own records for homicides, so it's trying a new approach. It's focusing more on solving non-fatal shootings to try to bring down the murder rate.

　　STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

　　Many American cities reported a surge in murders in 2020. And some of those cities have seen that higher murder rate persist. Philadelphia broke its all-time record for homicides in 2021. And this year, the pace is only slightly slower so far. So the police department is trying a new strategy, asking detectives to work harder to solve shootings that do not kill anybody. Here's NPR's Martin Kaste.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO CHATTER)

　　MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE²: Lieutenant³ Dennis Rosenbaum has 26 years with the Philadelphia Police Department, 12 years as a detective. And he's never seen it like this.

　　DENNIS ROSENBAUM: My phone goes off all night long - triples, quadruples, quintuples, one after another, one after another.

　　KASTE: Right now, he's arriving at the scene of a double shooting outside a Chinese takeout place on Susquehanna Avenue. Other detectives have already marked out the trail of spent shells. Rosenbaum looks at the pattern.

　　ROSENBAUM: One, two, three, then ran up - four, five, six, shooting up the street. Obviously, at some point, he takes out that window, you know. All the projectiles⁴ when they eject, 7 to 11 feet, back and to the right.

　　KASTE: His guess is this was a run-by shooting. Both victims were hit in the foot not very seriously and are getting medical care. And that's what's different here. Even though nobody died, the police are investigating this as if somebody had. Rosenbaum is a squad⁵ commander in a new citywide team that investigates nonfatal shootings almost as intensively as homicides. They do ballistics, a neighborhood canvass⁶ for videos.

　　ROSENBAUM: Two detectives will go to the hospital. Two detectives will come here to process the scene. We're modeling a lot of our things after what homicide does.

　　KASTE: The chief of detectives in Philadelphia is Frank Vanore. He says the reason they're putting more effort into solving nonfatal shootings is that it might actually deter⁷ fatal shootings.

　　FRANK VANORE: If we start to see a group of shootings, if we don't get a few people off the street, that'll continue until somebody wins.

　　KASTE: This approach is based on research. Philip Cook is a professor of public policy at Duke University with an emphasis on criminal justice. And he's studied nonfatal shootings.

　　PHILIP COOK: Whether the victim lives or dies in most shooting cases is a matter of luck.

　　KASTE: It might just come down to aim or how close the ER is. And yet, Cook says, whether someone dies tends to determine how hard the police work to solve that crime.

　　COOK: One thing that we found in Boston is that for every type of evidence, there was simply more of it being collected in the case of a homicide investigation⁸. And certainly, the caseloads for the investigators⁹ was quite different.

　　KASTE: Almost all police departments solve homicides at a higher rate than nonfatal shootings. That's pretty normal. But the gap in Philadelphia is especially big. Vanore says so far this year, they've cleared about 51% of homicides, compared to 25% for nonfatal shootings since the new unit started two months ago.

　　VANORE: I expect and I believe that clearance¹⁰ rate will rise. I looked at Denver. Denver did this. Their clearance rate went up pretty substantially. I think we'll have success.

　　KASTE: But if this strategy is going to deter homicides, people need to be aware of it. And right now, the news is still filtering out to the most affected¹¹ neighborhoods. At a free food distribution in North Philadelphia, Reuben Jones of the community group Frontline Dads is intrigued¹² to hear about the police taking this tack¹³.

　　REUBEN JONES: I definitely think that makes sense. One thing we know, the data shows that almost half of those shootings are retaliations. Let's do more of it and really hold people accountable.

　　KASTE: Back on the overnight shift, Lieutenant Rosenbaum is now at another scene using his flashlight to count bullet holes in a victim's car.

　　ROSENBAUM: He's got one in the windshield, one in the driver's side door.

　　KASTE: It's another nonfatal. The driver is in the hospital, wounded in the buttocks. He told police it was a road rage incident. But Rosenbaum doubts the story. He wonders if this is linked to the earlier shooting outside the Chinese takeout. It's a completely different part of town. And he says under the old system, investigators might not have looked for that connection.

　　ROSENBAUM: And then those guys would be in their silo over there in central division. Now we're all together. We all sit around the same area. Our desks are all near each other. They all talk. And that's what makes a big difference.

　　KASTE: But Rosenbaum also acknowledges that you don't get something for nothing. This citywide team has pulled detectives away from other jobs, such as robberies and burglaries. He says you just have to set priorities.

　　ROSENBAUM: You're just moving the resources around. So - and you got to adjust. We had to adjust with 1,800 shootings. We had to make a change. Hey, if it doesn't work, we go back to the old model. But let's try it.

　　KASTE: Two months into the strategy, the police department says it has seen a small improvement in the percentage of nonfatal shootings that it solved. But Rosenbaum says people should give them at least a year to see whether improving that number can also help to bring down the city's homicide rate.

　　Martin Kaste, NPR News, Philadelphia.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

6 canvass   

v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论

参考例句：

• Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
• I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

13 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。