经济学人309:警察与紧缩 下降趋势

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　　警察与紧缩

　　Down beat

　　下降趋势

　　Budget cuts may not affect crime—but they will change politics

　　削减预算可能不会影响犯罪—但能改变政治

　　Good old-fashioned policing

　　传统治安维持方式

　　POLICING in England and Wales is in crisis and things are about to get nasty. That, at least, is what the coppers¹ would have you believe. Ahead of the annual conference this week of the Police Federation², the policemen's union, Steve White, its leader, cautioned that budget cuts could mean a move towards more“paramilitary” policing, with officers using water cannons³, rubber bullets and tear gas. Theresa May, the home secretary, accused him of scaremongering. Mr White's logic⁴ is certainly fuzzy. But his warnings highlight the deteriorating⁵ relations between the police and their traditional allies, the Conservatives.

　　英格兰和威尔士的警务正处于危机之中，并且情况还会越来越糟。至少警察会让你相信这一点。在本周警察联合会（警察联盟）的年度会议之前，联合会领导人Steve White警告说预算削减意味着更多警察会朝着用高压水枪、橡皮子弹和催泪瓦斯行动这类更加“准军事”的警务发展。内政大臣特里萨·梅指责他是危言耸听。White的逻辑确实有失偏颇。但是他的警告却表明了警察与其传统的盟友保守派关系的恶化。

　　警察与紧缩.jpg

　　Police today are warier⁶ of heavy tactics than they once were. Chris Donaldson, a retired⁷ police officer, was on the streets of Tottenham in 1985, when riots broke out around the Broadwater Farm estate. He was back there in 2011 when disturbances⁸ erupted after police shot and killed Mark Duggan, a suspected gang member. Three decades ago, police were far more willing—sometimes overly so—to use force, says Mr Donaldson. In the 1980s, at the height of battles with striking miners, the police “would definitely be instructed to charge at times,” says Peter Neyroud, a former chief constable⁹ now at Cambridge University.

　　如今的警察相较以前在使用战术上更为精妙。1985年当布罗德沃特农场庄园发生暴动时，Chris Donaldson（现在已经退休）就在附近的托特纳姆的街道上。他于2011年又回到那里，当时警察开枪打死一名疑似帮派成员Mark Duggan而引发骚乱。Donaldson说，30年前，警察更愿意——甚至有时过度—使用武力。在20世纪80年代这个矿工罢工的高潮时期，警察“肯定会时常奉命控告”，Peter Neyroud说道，他是前任警察局长，现在在剑桥大学工作。

　　Today they are more reluctant to use such strategies. Officers try to to contain public disorder¹⁰ with tactics such as kettling, whereby demonstrators are confined to a small area. Rather than leading to paramilitary-style policing, declining ranks of officers could make negotiation¹¹ between police and protesters more common. Short on numbers, cops policing protests will have to behave even more carefully to avoid precipitating¹² trouble. And tougher tactics are “largely anathema¹³ to the British police”, says Tim Newburn, a criminologist at the London School of Economics, with senior officers unconvinced such tactics are effective and certain they are unpopular.

　　而现在警察都不太愿意使用这样的方式。警察试图用灌壶（把示威者限制在小范围的战术）等策略来制止公共秩序混乱。低级别的警官促成警察和反抗者之间的谈判更为常见，而不是采用准军事风格来维持治安。由于警察数量减少，警察在处理抗议活动时不得不更加小心，以免引起麻烦。英国伦敦经济学院一位犯罪学家Tim Newburn说严格的战术“很大程度上是英国警方的诅咒”，因为高级警官不相信这种策略是行之有效的，也不认为它们是受欢迎的。

　　Even after the coalition¹⁴ government's cuts of 20% to police budgets, and an 11% fall in officer numbers since 2010, by historical standards there are still a lot of police about. Bobbies are more numerous today than in the mid-1990s, when law-breaking was at its peak.

　　即使自2010年来，联合政府削减20%的警方预算以及减少11%的警力，按历史标准还有许多政策和预算和警察有关。相比违法的高峰期—20世纪90年代，如今警察的数量还是要多得多。

　　The police have long resisted reductions to their budgets. But few would have thought the fiercest cuts, harshest criticism and clearest diminution¹⁵ in their political clout¹⁶ would come under the Tories, so long the party of law and order. With David Cameron, the prime minister, determined¹⁷ to save money and reform what he once called the “last great unreformed public service”, the once-close relationship between the Tories and Britain's law-enforcers has soured.

　　警察总是抵制削减他们的预算。但是没人想到，最大幅度的削减、最残酷的批评以及警察明显下降的政治影响力会发生在一向重视法律和秩序的保守党执政时期。首相卡梅伦下定决心要节省开支，并且决心改革他曾经称作 “最后一个大型的未被改革的公共服务”，这让保守党与英国警察一度亲密的关系遭到破坏。

　　1.accuse of 指责，控告

　　例句:I hate it when people accuse us of that.

　　我讨厌别人就那件事指责我们。

　　2.between and 之间

　　例句:The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.

　　你是什么样的人和你想成为什么样的之间的差距就是，你做了什么。

　　3.break out 爆发；突然发生

　　例句:He may break out in a rash when he eats these nuts.

　　他吃了这些坚果可能会长皮疹。

　　4.reluctant to 不愿意；不情愿

　　例句:We were reluctant to start the long trudge¹⁸ home.

　　我们很不愿意踏上如此漫长艰辛的回家之路。

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