美国国家公共电台 NPR Chicago Police Officer Goes On Trial For Murder Of Black Teen

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. Jury selection is beginning today in Chicago in the trial for a white police officer accused of killing¹ the Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old. This trial is getting underway just a week after a case in Texas where the jury took the rare step of convicting a police officer of murder and sentencing him to prison for fatally shooting a teenager. As NPR's Cheryl Corley reports, the case in Chicago has prompted protests demanding justice and police reforms.

CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE²: There's one protest chant that's become a mantra in this Chicago case.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Sixteen shots and a cover-up. Sixteen shots and a cover-up.

CORLEY: Sixteen shots and a cover-up - it's a reference to the shooting of Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke³. In a graphic⁴, silent police dashcam video, released a year after the shooting, Officer Van Dyke opens fire a few seconds after he exits his police car. He shoots McDonald 16 times.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JASON VAN DYKE: I never would have done this if I didn't think my life or somebody else's life was in danger.

CORLEY: In an interview last week on a local Fox TV affiliate⁵, Van Dyke said he was following the training he received from the Chicago Police Department and acted in self-defense. Police contend McDonald lunged at officers with a knife. The video tells a different story. It shows McDonald, knife in hand, walking away. Van Dyke is charged with murder and aggravated⁶ battery. He's pleaded not guilty. Critics charge that Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to keep the video under wraps during a tough re-election campaign. The mayor, who announced yesterday that he won't seek a third term, always denied that charge. And three years ago during a city council meeting, he apologized for McDonald's death.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAHM EMANUEL: What happened on October 20, 2014, should never have happened. Supervision⁷ and leadership in the police department and the oversight⁸ agencies that were in place failed. And that has to change.

CORLEY: There are about 1,000 police shootings every year, says Bowling⁹ Green State University criminologist Phil Stinson. Most are deemed justifiable¹⁰.

PHIL STINSON: Since 2005, only 93 officers across the country has been charged in one of those cases.

CORLEY: Out of those 93, about a third have been convicted. It was just a week ago in Texas that a jury took the rare step - convicting a police officer of murder and sentencing him to prison for fatally shooting a teenager. It's been decades in Chicago since a police officer faced a murder charge for an on-duty fatality¹¹. Van Dyke's attorney has long argued that his client can't get a fair trial because of all the publicity¹². He calls the case a tragedy, not a cause for a murder charge. After an earlier court hearing, Marvin Hunter, Laquan McDonald's great uncle, said his nephew's death was indeed a tragedy and an all too familiar one for African-Americans during encounters with police.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARVIN HUNTER: We need to change a corrupt¹³ culture...

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Yes.

HUNTER: ...That caused this to happen in the first place.

(APPLAUSE)

CORLEY: There has been plenty of political fallout - Mayor Emanuel's announcement that he's not running again, a police superintendent¹⁴ ousted¹⁵, a county prosecutor¹⁶ lost her re-election bid. There also have been sweeping¹⁷ police reforms that include de-escalation training for cops. Some of the changes occurred as the U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing¹⁸ report that found the Chicago police often used unnecessary and deadly force, especially against minorities. The report prompted calls for federal oversight of the department and was formerly¹⁹ called a consent decree. That's something the police union adamantly²⁰ opposes. Christy Lopez is a former Justice Department attorney who helped lead the investigation²¹. She says the recommendations in a draft consent decree that would mandate²² reforms are a milestone²³.

CHRISTY LOPEZ: What this consent decree does is it attempts to address each of those components²⁴ that allowed the Laquan McDonald - and so many other - problematic incidents to occur.

CORLEY: Components like training, discipline, recruitment and accountability - all things she says that must be addressed in order to change the culture of a police department.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Justice.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: When do we want it?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Justice

CORLEY: Activists²⁵ gathered recently at Chicago's City Hall. Maria Hernandez, an organizer with Black Lives Matter, said the draft consent decree for Chicago police simply doesn't go far enough. She's also urging people to show up at Chicago's Criminal Courts Building today, saying it's time for the city to make history.

MARIA HERNANDEZ: We need to convict Van Dyke. We need this consent decree to reflect the demands of the people most impacted. And we need everyone in the streets at 26 and California on September 5 when this trial happens.

CORLEY: A trial that could have long-term implications for the city, the Chicago Police Department and the trust between police and neighborhoods. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 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。

2 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。

3 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

6 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

7 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

8 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

9 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

10 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

11 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

12 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

13 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

14 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

15 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

16 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

17 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

18 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

20 adamantly   

adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地

参考例句：

• "Come over here,"he told her adamantly. “到这边来，”他对她坚定地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His family were adamantly opposed to the marriage. 他的家人坚决反对这门亲事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

22 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

23 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。

24 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

25 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》