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为什么美国的警察越来越军事化了?(1)

来源:可可英语 编辑:hepburn   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

This was a protest near the White House, on June 1st.

这是6月1日白宫附近举行的一次抗议活动。

"It has been an entirely peaceful protest..."

“这是一起完全和平的抗议……”

It was met by forces with helmets, riot shields, rifles...and tear gas.

抗议招来的却是带着头盔、手持防暴盾牌、还携带有步枪和催泪瓦斯的武装部队。

The authorities here were a mix of police and military:

当局不仅出动了警察,还出动了军队:

There were Secret Service, Park Police, the National Guard, Prison Special Operations, and local police from a nearby county.

包括特勤局、公园警察、国民警卫队、监狱特种部队,还有来自附近县的当地警察。

But can you tell which ones are the police?

问题是,你能分辨出哪些是警察吗?

If it’s hard to tell — it’s these guys by the way —

如果你觉得很难分辨,那我告诉你,是这些人,

it’s because America’s police have been looking more and more like troops.

这是因为,美国警察的装束已经越来越像军队了。

"Get in the house!"

“进屋!”

So why do American police officers look like soldiers?

那么问题来了,美国警察为什么像军队?

"Why are you in riot gear?"

“你为什么穿着防暴装备?”

And where did they get all these weapons?

那些武器他们又是从哪里弄来的?

"Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! This was a peaceful protest!"

“别开枪!别开枪!这是和平抗议!”

In the 1980s, police in America looked more like this.

在20世纪80年代,美国的警察还是这套造型。

The US’s crime rate had been doing this.

当时,美国的犯罪率一直在直线上升。

And President Reagan called for the military to work more directly with the police for the War on Drugs.

于是,里根总统呼吁军方要密切配合警方开展禁毒战工作。

"Drugs are menacing our society."

“毒品已经威胁到了我们社会的稳定。”

"We must move to strengthen law enforcement activities."

“我们必须采取行动,加大执法力度。”

Congress agreed, and over the next few years passed a series of bills:

国会也认同里根总统的这一看法,于是,他们在接下来的几年里通过了一系列的法案:

to give police access to military bases and equipment,

允许警察进入军事基地,调用军事设备,

for the National Guard to assist police with drug operations, for the military and police to train together,

允许国民警卫队协助警方执行缉毒行动,允许军方和警方协同训练,

and eventually, to have the military loan police departments their excess, leftover equipment, for free.

还有,允许军方将他们多余设备或剩余装备借给警察部门。

This would become known as the 1033 program.

这便是后来为大家熟知的“1033计划”。

Police departments got assault rifles like M16s, armored trucks, and even grenade launchers.

那以后,警察部门就有了M16突击步枪、装甲车,甚至还有手榴弹发射器。

And before long, it started to have an effect on how police…police.

没过多久,这些装备就开始左右警察们执勤的方式了。

We can see that in the number of times SWAT teams were used.

我们从特警队出警的次数就能看出这一点。

Departments that had deployed them about once a month in the 80s were using them more than 80 times a year by 1995.

80年代时,警察部门调用特警队的频率为1次/月左右,到了1995年,调用的频率已经达到80次/年以上。

Almost all of these deployments were for drug-related search warrants,

而且,几乎每次调用都是执行禁毒搜查工作,

usually forced-entry searches called “no knock warrants."

通常还都是持“不敲门搜查令”的强制搜查。

2

The police were becoming militarized, and people noticed.

警察正在逐渐军事化,民众也注意到了。

This 1997 article said it made police look like “an occupying army."

1997年的这篇文章就指出,那些武器装备搞得警察就好像“一支占领军”一样。

"Suspects are fleeing! They're heavily armed."

“嫌犯正在逃跑!他们持有大量武器。”

In February of 1997, two men robbed a bank in North Hollywood, Los Angeles.

1997年2月,两名男子抢劫了洛杉矶北好莱坞的一家银行。

They had automatic rifles and body armor.

他们还带了自动步枪和防弹衣。

The police didn’t.

当时出动的警察却没有那些装备。

"They've got automatic weapons. There's nothing we have that can stop them."

“他们有自动武器。我们没有任何东西能阻止他们。”

By the time it ended, a dozen police officers were injured.

行动结束时有12名警察都挂了彩。

In the aftermath of the shootout, California police demanded they be equipped with assault rifles, like the AR-15.

那次枪击事件后,加州警方要求有关方面给他们配上突击步枪,比如AR-15。

But so did police in places from Florida to Connecticut.

问题是,佛罗里达州,康涅狄格州等地的警察也提出了这一要求。

And that same year, the 1033 program was expanded,

同年,“1033计划”扩容了,

dropping a requirement that police departments use the equipment for drug-related enforcement.

撤销了警察部门只能在禁毒执法时才能使用这些装备的要求。

Now any law enforcement, even university police, could access leftover military weapons, for any reason.

如今,任何执法部门,甚至包括大学校警都能拿到军队剩余的武器,也不管是出于何种原因要武器。

A retired police chief in Connecticut told the New York Times, “I was offered tanks, bazookas, anything I wanted."

康涅狄格州一位退休的警察局长在接受《纽约时报》采访时透露,“他们给了我坦克,还给了火箭筒,我想要什么武器他们就能给我什么武器。”

Because complete records on these loans weren’t kept until 2015,

他们是2015年才开始保留所有的出借记录的,

we don’t know exactly how much equipment was given out in those early years.

至于在那之前军方借给了警方多少装备我们就不得而知了。

But we do have data on how much of it police departments still have, from each year it was given out.

但警察部门现在有多少武器我们是有数的,因为这是可以从他们(出警时)拿出来的武器的数量推算出来的。

And you can see a steady growth in the program for most of the 90s and 2000s.

而且,我们可以看到,90年代和2000年代的大部分时间,这个“1033计划”都是在稳步推进的。

And then something happens around here.

接下来,有件事情发生了。

“The rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year."

“伊拉克的剩余部队也将于今年年底前回国。”

In 2011, the US military formally withdrew its troops from Iraq.

2011年,美军正式从伊拉克撤军。

That meant the military had a lot of equipment, and one less war to use it on.

这就意味着军方有很多装备,但少了一场战争,那些装备派上用场的机会就少了一次。

So it became available to the police.

于是,那些武器便落到了警察能够够到的范围之内。

This is a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, or MRAP.

这是一种反地雷伏击车,又名MRAP。

It’s among the most controversial equipment given out under the 1033 program.

是根据“1033计划”可以借出的装备中争议最大的装备之一。

And we know from the data that police departments still have several hundred of them that they got in 2013 and 2014.

我们从数据中了解到,警察部门现在仍有数百辆这种车,还都是他们在2013年和2014年这两年内借到的。

But none from 2015.

但没有一辆是2015年借的。

That’s because in August of 2014, the 1033 Program became national news.

这是因为2014年8月,“1033计划”突然上了国内新闻。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
grenade [gri'neid]

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n. 手榴弹,榴弹

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available [ə'veiləbl]

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adj. 可用的,可得到的,有用的,有效的

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assault [ə'sɔ:lt]

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n. 攻击,突袭
vt. 袭击,突袭

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vehicle ['vi:ikl]

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n. 车辆,交通工具,手段,工具,传播媒介

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military ['militəri]

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adj. 军事的
n. 军队

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peaceful ['pi:sfəl]

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adj. 安宁的,和平的

 
eventually [i'ventjuəli]

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adv. 终于,最后

 
steady ['stedi]

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adj. 稳定的,稳固的,坚定的
v. 使稳固

 
controversial [.kɔntrə'və:ʃəl]

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adj. 引起争论的,有争议的

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excess [ik'ses, 'ekses]

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n. 过量,超过,过剩
adj. 过量的,额外

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