VOA标准英语2012--US Neighborhood Watch Volunteers Help Protect Communities

 US Neighborhood Watch Volunteers Help Protect Communities

Baruti Jahi, a longtime Washington resident and father, knows he can't take his family's safety for granted. "I'm up at four in the morning looking out my window because my dog is barking, and all of a sudden I see two young men walking down my street. At four in the morning, that's an unusual situation," he said. 

Jahi called the police after that incident, and they caught the young men, who were trying to break into a nearby house.

He says it was their behavior that drew his attention. "They were just taking little peeps and then looking into each car," he said. 

It's Samantha Nolan's job to help people recognize those behaviors. 

Nolan will train residents of Jahi's neighborhood on running their own neighborhood watch group. For more than a decade, she has worked with the police to train more than 1,000 people in the nation's capital. "We have an expression: 'See it, say it.' If you see something, you call 911 (the standard emergency phone number in the U.S.) and say what you see," she said. 

Nolan decided¹ to use that strategy here in her own neighborhood after there were 18 robberies in just 45 days. Now, when someone goes out of town, the neighbors keep an eye out for their house and if they see something suspicious, they call the police.

"Four people were exiting a home that the neighbors knew were on vacation, and because we sent out our alert, they were watching the house, and we were able to make that arrest and that was the end of the burglary spree," she said. 

Neighborhood watch groups came under scrutiny² last month after a volunteer followed a young black man in a Florida town. The volunteer George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, allegedly in self defense³.

Nolan says she tells volunteers never to pursue anyone suspicious. In fact, she says that just knowing your neighbors is the best way to fight crime. And Baruti Jahi agrees. "You want to be vigilant⁴, but not a vigilante. You want to represent the best interests of the community in a safe and careful manner," he said. 

And in that way, he hopes to help make his neighborhood just a little safer for his family. 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。