美国国家公共电台 NPR--A new NYPD podcast focuses on the history of hostage negotiations

A new NYPD podcast focuses on the history of hostage negotiations¹

Transcript²

The podcast, launched by the New York Police Department, examines the history behind tactics to end armed standoffs. What has and hasn't changed for hostage negotiators?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Moving on to New York City, where 50 years ago a police officer was ahead of his time. Our law enforcement correspondent, Martin Kaste, recently discovered a podcast produced by the city's police department about the history of hostage negotiations.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: As I've covered police reform over the last few years, one of the mantras has been time. Cops are now being told to slow things down during confrontations⁴ to make room for de-escalation. It's 21st-century thinking, which is why it was so surprising to hear this voice from the past.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HARVEY SCHLOSSBERG: The common element in all these situations is time - T-I-M-E - time.

KASTE: This is a training film made almost five decades ago. The man speaking is the late Harvey Schlossberg. He was a New York City cop, but he was one who also happened to have a psychology⁵ degree. So the brass⁶ had him devise a strategy for dealing⁷ with a very specific kind of problem - an armed suspect who takes hostages.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHLOSSBERG: This man goes into a situation to commit a crime. He gets caught in the act, and he panics. What we count on is if we can give that panic feeling a chance to pierce, he may realize that escaping or killing⁸ the hostage may not be the only way to handle this situation.

KASTE: This seems eminently⁹ reasonable today, but in the early '70s, it was revolutionary, says Edward Conlon. He's a retired¹⁰ NYPD officer as well as the writer and host of the podcast about this history, which is called "Talk To Me."

EDWARD CONLON: Yeah, hostage negotiations, which was born out of a chief here - and was watching the Olympics in 1972 and seeing how badly it was handled.

KASTE: He's referring there to the Israelis who were killed at Munich when terrorists took them hostage and the West German police tried to rescue them.

CONLON: And realizing that no police department anywhere ever had a programmatic approach to a hostage crisis.

KASTE: And in 1970s New York, armed standoffs were a real problem. Conlon's podcast has the voices of the people involved as the NYPD tried out its new talk strategy. It has officers, hostages, and it has this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: You got - you able to hear anything now?

CAT: I think I got...

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: No.

CAT: I hear you. Where's - I got a radio here, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: I was doing Dylan right now 'cause you said...

CAT: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: ...You wanted Dylan. I did...

CAT: I wanted Dylan. I want Stones. I want Kiss (ph). (Inaudible).

KASTE: A hostage taker on the radio. This is tape from one of the upcoming podcast episodes telling the story of a failed bank robber named Cat who took hostages in a bank, then got on the phone with a local rock station. What's striking is that while Cat fully¹¹ expects the police to shoot him at the first opportunity, the DJ seems to mirror the NYPD's new, more patient philosophy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: You know, you...

CAT: They've got good marksmen out there, probably. And if I stick my head up, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED RADIO HOST: Well, I don't think anybody wants to take a potshot at anybody. I don't think you do. And I don't think they do.

CAT: No. It's - I'm not a killer¹², you know?

KASTE: Keep in mind that the police were listening to the radio, too, and biting their tongues. Edward Colon¹³ again.

CONLON: You really have to swallow a lot of pride, and you have to keep focused on the mission, which is saving lives.

KASTE: Eventually, this philosophy caught on. The NYPD's team traveled around the country teaching other departments how to do hostage negotiations. But later, things were complicated by the rise of active shooters. After Columbine, police had to learn to distinguish between people who take hostages and people who just want to kill. Still, Chuck Wexler, the director of the Police Executive Research Forum¹⁴, says the 50-year-old insights of cop psychologist Harvey Schlossberg still matter

CHUCK WEXLER: Today they're as relevant, if not more, about communication, slowing things down and using time and distance. Valuable lessons in the '70s - they're as relevant today, if not more so.

KASTE: For anyone really interested in how those ideas evolved, the podcast "Talk To Me" is planning a total of 27 episodes, available on most podcast platforms.

Martin Kaste, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

5 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

6 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 eminently   

adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地

参考例句：

• She seems eminently suitable for the job. 她看来非常适合这个工作。
• It was an eminently respectable boarding school. 这是所非常好的寄宿学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

13 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

14 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。