美国国家公共电台 NPR 'We Need To Evolve': Police Get Help To Improve Hate Crime Tracking

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

There has been a spike¹ in hate crimes across this country, and police departments are under pressure to respond. Sometimes, they lack the resources. And sometimes, they lack the will to educate officers. A group of veteran prosecutors³ and federal agents is trying to change that. NPR's Hannah Allam went to a workshop in Durham, N.H., and she brought back this story.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi, there. Did you register?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I got the email.

HANNAH ALLAM, BYLINE⁴: It's 8:30 in the morning, and about 50 officers from different police departments - some in plain clothes, some in uniform - file into an auditorium⁵ at the University of New Hampshire. They greet old friends and make a beeline for the coffee and muffins.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Hey, Johnny. How are you? Nice to see you.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Nice to see you.

ALLAM: But once they settle into their seats, the mood turns serious.

ALBERT MOSKOWITZ: Maybe we should start with, you know, hate crimes.

ALLAM: Trainer Albert Moskowitz is a former senior Justice Department prosecutor². He poses the big question many cops have about hate crime laws.

MOSKOWITZ: Do we need them? What do you think?

ALLAM: At first nobody responds. Then one officer, fidgeting with his pen, says he supports the approach New Hampshire takes now. No state hate crime law but prosecutors can seek tougher sentencing when bias⁶ is the motivation. Moskowitz pushes the officer to explain why bias should even be a factor if there's no hate crime law.

MOSKOWITZ: So you're saying that somehow, these crimes are more serious than they would otherwise be.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: I wouldn't say more serious it's just that - I'll consider it more serious. But assault is assault no matter how you look at it.

MOSKOWITZ: Because assault against anybody is a serious crime, right? Yeah. So why would it be more serious if the assault is substantially motivated by the person's race or religion?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: It should be enhanced as far as penalties. But as far as seriousness, I don't know.

ALLAM: That back and forth⁷ happens at nearly every stop of this traveling workshop. It's put on by two advocacy groups, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The trainers know they're wading⁸ into a long, simmering debate over hate crime laws.

CYNTHIA DEITLE: There's one side of the population that looks at hate crimes and sees laws that were passed to protect certain people. And why were those certain people more special than somebody else?

ALLAM: That's another trainer, Cynthia Deitle, a former FBI special agent who was in charge of the bureau's civil rights unit. She's now with the Matthew Shepard Foundation. She's done this training all over the country and says the mood each time is set by the local chief. Here in Durham, both the local and campus police departments welcomed it, as Durham Chief Dave Kurz made clear to his officers.

DAVE KURZ: As guardians⁹ of our community, it's important for us to understand that a simple misdemeanor rock being thrown through a window may be just that. But then again, it may not be just that.

ALLAM: Supporters of hate crime laws say the idea is to acknowledge the sweeping¹⁰ impact of targeting someone simply for who they are. The torching of a mosque¹¹ is felt by the larger Muslim community, for example, just like the murder of a transwoman sends a message to others who identify as LGBT. Stratford County Attorney Thomas Velardi, who oversees¹² Durham and the surrounding area, says he sees hate crime laws as restorative.

THOMAS VERLARDI: There are some people who are being singled out, and in some instances hurt. And we need to do something about that. And we're sort of struggling with, how do we respond to that? What do we do? And how do we do it?

ALLAM: The trainers are careful about the framing, stressing how it's just good police work to stay on top of hate incidents that might point to a trend or signal the formation of groups like the ones that wreaked¹³ havoc¹⁴ in Charlottesville, Va. Cynthia Deitle again.

DEITLE: None of us want you to be the next Charlottesville or the next Charleston or the next Pittsburgh. We don't want you to be that, but we don't know. And you need to be prepared.

ALLAM: Police in New Hampshire have already gotten a taste of how fast racist¹⁵ incidents can outpace their response. In the fall of 2017, a 7-year-old biracial boy was the victim of a racist attack on a school bus. In a separate incident, white teenagers allegedly put a rope around another biracial child's neck and pushed him off a picnic table. And the UNH campus was reeling after a complaint about the cultural appropriation¹⁶ of Cinco de Mayo spiraled into weeks of racial unrest.

PAUL DEAN: That time was sad, but there were opportunities.

ALLAM: That's University of New Hampshire Police Chief Paul Dean. He says this training is one of many ways he's making good on a promise to students to learn from 2017 and introduce change.

DEAN: Just because something has always been the way it is doesn't necessarily mean that's the right way. And we need to evolve if - you know, I just don't like the idea of somebody feeling uncomfortable in my community.

ALLAM: It's hard to say whether the chief's commitment has trickled¹⁷ down to the rank and file. During the training, few of the officers volunteered their thoughts. They opened up a little more over lunch.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLAM: Sitting around a table in the campus cafeteria, the officers used some of the language of hate crime skeptics. There's not an increase, it's just that there's more reporting now, or the media are quick to call something a hate crime without knowing the facts. Still, the officers say they see the training as helpful. The chiefs asked that we not use their names.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: We don't train. If we don't stay on top of the current changes in laws and the attitudes in the climate, then we're going to pay a big price for that. And we'll lose the trust of the community, and we can't do that.

ALLAM: The trainers don't expect to change minds after a single workshop, but they say getting police to think about and talk about hate crimes is a start.

Hannah Allam, NPR News Durham, N.H.

(SOUNDBITE OF BOOTHROYD'S "PURE COUNTRY")

1 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

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 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

6 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

9 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

10 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

11 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

12 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

13 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

14 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

15 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

16 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

17 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》