美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why data from 15 cities shows police response times are taking longer

Why data from 15 cities shows police response times are taking longer

Transcript¹

Police response times are taking longer in many cities and experts attribute it, in part, to staffing shortages. Departments are struggling to fill vacancies² left by officers who have quit or retired³.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Police response times are getting longer. That's according to a new analysis of the average time it takes cops in 15 cities to respond to calls ranging from low priority vandalism to acts of violence. As NPR's Martin Kaste reports, the longer waits come as police departments struggle to keep enough officers on staff.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE⁴: There isn't a national program tracking police response times, but some cities gather and publish their own stats. Jeff Asher, a crime analyst⁵ who publishes on Substack, compiled the numbers for 15 of those cities.

JEFF ASHER: A lot of the larger agencies - New Orleans, Nashville, Portland, New York City, Seattle - are seeing reasonably sizable increases in the average response time.

KASTE: But those increases vary a lot. In New Orleans, average response times almost tripled, from 51 minutes in 2019 to 146 minutes last year. In New York, the number jumped less, from 18 minutes to 33. Asher says these figures are just a sampling of what's going on nationally. But the trend seems clear.

ASHER: I also found somewhere between five and seven cities that don't publish the data, but they've had media reporting in 2022 talking about how much longer police response times have gotten. So we may not have the actual numbers, but the anecdotes⁶ are telling us that these 15 cities are not the only places that this is happening.

KASTE: None of this surprises Chuck Wexler.

CHUCK WEXLER: The national conversation among police is staffing is the No. 1 issue.

KASTE: Wexler runs the Police Executive Research Forum⁷. He says older officers are quitting or retiring at a faster rate. And new recruits are harder to come by. He calls longer response times an early warning sign that the staffing shortages are now starting to have an effect.

WEXLER: If your house is being broken into and you need the police there in 4 minutes and they get there in 7 minutes, it makes a huge difference.

KASTE: Some departments have tried to make up for officer shortages by shifting non-emergency work and some mental health calls to civilians⁸. But some of those cities report hiring and training civilians has also been slow.

Martin Kaste, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SWEATSON KLANK'S "ON OUR WAY HOME")

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 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 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。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。