美国国家公共电台 NPR--Tioga, Pennsylvania police controversy illustrates need for better background checks

Tioga, Pennsylvania police controversy¹ illustrates² need for better background checks

Transcript³

It's getting harder for "wandering cops" — people who lose law enforcement certification in one state and get hired elsewhere. Many more departments are now performing interstate background checks

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This next story takes us to the borough⁴ of Tioga, Pa., where officials hired a police officer, and then word spread of the officer's past. He was a former Cleveland cop who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014. Now, the officer has quit his new job, and so have four people involved in hiring him. They've quit, too. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE⁵: The crowd at the borough meeting on Tuesday was ready for those resignations. They were furious that officials had been either ignorant or indifferent about their newly hired cop's past.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: You risked the public safety by allowing that officer to be hired.

KASTE: Stephanie Pawlowski was one of the residents appalled⁶ by the hire and the notoriety that it generated for their small community.

STEPHANIE PAWLOWSKI: If we want to go into the negative national attention and the divide that it has caused our community, that's pretty powerful, too.

KASTE: But what's interesting about the debacle in Tioga is that it shows just how much more pressure there is now on police departments to do better background checks. And it seems a lot of departments are getting that message.

MIKE BECAR: Well, in the past year, we've seen significant growth.

KASTE: That's Mike Becar, who runs the National Decertification Index. It's a privately⁷ run national database of people who've lost their license⁸ to be police officers in their home states because of misconduct. The idea is to prevent them from becoming what's known as wandering officers, decertified cops who cross state lines to find other police jobs. The NDI has been around for two decades, but Becar says just recently he's seeing a lot more police departments using it.

BECAR: A little over a year ago, we had about 3,000 background investigators⁹ that had access. And right now, it's over 6,000, so it's significantly jumped.

KASTE: This seems to be a direct result of the police reform movement since 2020. Several states have passed new laws requiring more complete background checks for new officers, and that often means checking the NDI for problems in other states. Still, procedures are hardly the same everywhere. In Kansas, Doug Schroeder runs the state's Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training. He's also a former police chief. And he says people might be surprised about how much variation there is between police departments when they're hiring.

DOUG SCHROEDER: Some utilize¹⁰ a polygraph or a voice stress analyzer. Some don't. Some do different sorts of testing and that sort of thing. It is vastly different department from department.

KASTE: So when it comes to checking whether someone is a wandering cop with a black mark in another state, he says he's glad to see that the NDI is becoming standard procedure. His commission is trying to tell more departments about it, especially small departments, but he's hoping his state will also just make it mandatory¹¹. This year, he worked on legislation with state Senator Cindy Holscher.

CINDY HOLSCHER: You hate to legislate¹² for things like this, but if, you know, a hiring agency knows this is something they have to do then it'll get done.

KASTE: That bill did not pass, but she says she'll try again next year.

Martin Kaste, NPR News.

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1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

3 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。

4 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

5 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。

6 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

11 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

12 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。