美国国家公共电台 NPR Baltimore Police Overhaul Challenged By Murder Crisis

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Baltimore is closing in again on 300 murders. It has passed that grim milestone¹ every year since 2015. That was the year of the Freddie Gray riots, which led to the current effort to reform Baltimore police. The unrelenting carnage in the neighborhoods has eroded² residents' faith in a kind of police reforms that have been pushed in big cities since Ferguson. NPR's Martin Kaste has our story which includes some strong language.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: Kinji Scott is a minister and a community activist⁴. He's riding through his neighborhood in Baltimore's Northwestern district.

KINJI SCOTT: You'll see homicide right there. See that? - right there.

KASTE: Scott's pointing out some balloons tied to a lamppost. It's a memorial. Other murder sites are unmarked, but he has them memorized.

SCOTT: A man was killed right there in the middle street by that tree. There's two people killed right there.

KASTE: The other man in this car, the one driving, is Anthony Barksdale. He's a retired⁵ Baltimore cop. He was deputy commissioner⁶ in the years when crime was dropping. Now he spends his time blogging and tweeting about what he sees as the inaction of Baltimore police. He's frustrated⁷ at what he's now seeing in the streets that he used to patrol.

ANTHONY BARKSDALE: And look at this. Look at this corner. When I worked, I'd pull up and say clear the corner.

KASTE: Here, he's talking about a group of people hanging out at a known trouble spot. He says Baltimore cops used to clear corners like this to reduce the likelihood of a drive-by or walk-up shooting. Barksdale turns up another street and then practically jumps out of his seat.

BARKSDALE: Look over there. You've got people selling drugs. And the cop is sitting right there...

SCOTT: They're sitting on the police car.

BARKSDALE: ...And they sat on the damn police car. That's de-policing.

SCOTT: Just like the ones you saw...

BARKSDALE: This is what you're seeing. This is de-policing.

KASTE: De-policing - in law enforcement, this is a touchy⁸ word. You hear it mostly from conservatives and critics of the Black Lives Matter movement. People who say the protesting has made police too cautious, that it's cleared the way for killers⁹ in places like Baltimore and Chicago. But here in this car, the de-policing word is being used by two black men. What's more, Kinji Scott, the community activist, says this.

SCOTT: People are less concerned about police reform right now than they are about their own public safety. That's why it pisses me off when people keep talking about reform. We're talking about our safety and being able to walk out our houses without being afraid of being shot.

KASTE: And the man they blame for all this - the police commissioner, Kevin Davis.

KEVIN DAVIS: I've heard those sentiments out there, particularly from the peanut galleries of the world, about the police officers de-policing or taking a knee.

KASTE: Davis, who's white, is the face of the police reform process in Baltimore. He was hired from outside after the riots. And now he's implementing¹⁰ the federal consent decree that was negotiated with the Justice Department in January, the last of the Obama-era police reform deals.

DAVIS: This profession can no longer occupy geographies with cops and stop everyone who moves and hopes of catching¹¹ a few bad guys.

KASTE: And Davis says this new approach is doing some good things. There are fewer complaints now about excessive force and fewer shootings by officers.

But reform also faces some serious headwinds. Rank-and-file cops are still angry about the failed prosecution¹² of six officers connected with the in-custody death of Freddie Gray. There's tension with the union and fallout from new police corruption¹³ scandals. Still, the greatest challenge to reform is the stubborn murder rate. It's a tension that Davis recognizes.

DAVIS: Just like people don't want to see dead bodies on their streets and they don't want to see drug dealers¹⁴ on their corners, they also don't want to be mistreated by police officers. They also don't want their sons and grandsons being pulled out of their car and arrested for contempt-of-cop offenses¹⁵. So we have to do both.

KASTE: The thing about this debate in Baltimore and in other big cities like New Orleans and Chicago is that everyone agrees on the big-picture goals. Police should be respectful and act constitutionally. The arguments come when you talk about specific tactics in specific places, say, the old Baltimore practice of clearing corners.

SEAN SHULER: When they saw police, it was just - OK, it's time to leave.

KASTE: That's Sean Shuler, also a resident of the Northwestern district, recalling how corner clearing used to work as opposed to now when the cops show up.

SHULER: They pull up, and you still got 20 people sitting there.

KASTE: Is that bad or good?

SHULER: It's bad.

KASTE: Why?

SHULER: It's bad because if you letting all these guys stand around that mean more things is going to happen. So soon as the officer pulls off, it's going to be a shooting.

KASTE: Shuler is black, and he wants police to be respectful. For example, he didn't like the way plainclothes cops here used to jump out of cars to harass¹⁶ people in the neighborhood. But given how bad things are right now, he thinks some of the old tactics do make sense even if they run afoul of the federal consent decree. Martin Kaste, NPR News, Baltimore.

(SOUNDBITE OF QUANTIC'S "TIME IS THE ENEMY")

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

3 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。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 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。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

9 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

10 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

15 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

16 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。