经济学人124:公民自由 机械战警

 　　Books and arts

　　文艺

　　Bookreview

　　书评

　　Civil liberties

　　公民自由

　　Robocops

　　机械战警

　　Rise of the Warrior¹ Cop: The Militarisation of America's Police Forces. By Radley Balko.

　　《战警的崛起：美国警力军事化》

　　RADLEY BALKO'S writing has long been read by people who care about civil liberties.

　　Radley Balko长期以来撰写公民自由类的文章，对这方面感兴趣的读者一定有所耳闻。

　　First for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, then for his own blog, “The Agitator”, now part of the Huffington Post, he has written about criminal-justice policy, with a focus on police abuses: not corruption² so much as the excesses that have become inherent in ordinary policing.

　　他先供职于有美国自由者智囊团称号的卡托研究所，然后专心撰写自己的博客“煽动者”。现在，他是赫芬顿邮报的一名记者，撰写罪犯公正政策类的文章，主要切入点为警察的虐待问题，相对于腐败来说，这个问题是一般执法中固有的问题，而且十分普遍。

　　全副武装.jpg

　　Mr Balko manages to avoid the clichés of both right and left, and provokes genuine outrage³ at the misuse⁴ of state power in its most brutal⁵ and unaccountable form.

　　Balko成功地绕过了左派或右派的陈词滥调，激起民众对公共权力滥用的深刻愤慨。这种渎职行为是极为残酷且无法量化的。

　　Heavily armed police raiding the homes of unarmed, non-violent suspects on the flimsiest of pretexts⁶, and behaving more like an occupying army in hostile territory than guardians⁷ of public safety.

　　全副武装的警察闯进手嫌疑犯的家里，这些人无缚鸡之力，仅仅是因为警方臆想的罪责就被当做凶残的恐怖分子一样。这些警察全然没有公共卫士的形象。

　　“Rise of the Warrior Cop”, Mr Balko's interesting first book, explains what policies led to the militarisation of America's police.

　　Balko第一本有意思的书名为“战警的崛起”，书中介绍了什么样的政策导致了美国警察的军事化。

　　To his credit, he focuses his outrage not on the police themselves, but on politicians and the phoney, wasteful⁸ drug war they created.

　　他在书中表示，他并不对警察本身感到愤怒，而是对政治家和制造了无用的毒品战的骗子们感到愤怒。

　　After the obligatory⁹ backward glances to the colonial era—in which the sort of social shaming possible only in small, homogeneous communities obviated¹⁰ the need for standing¹¹ police forces—and the American civil war, Mr Balko's story really begins with the Supreme¹² Court's 1963 ruling in Ker v California, which allowed the police to enter someone's home without a warrant and without knocking or announcing themselves.

　　作者必要地回顾了一下殖民地时期，在当时，战警的现象还只是存在于小而均匀的社区中，为的是消除常规警力的必要。同时，书中还回顾了美国的内战时期。而Balko真正要记叙的则是从1963年最高法院的建立开始的。当时的最高法院坐落于加州，法院允许警察不经批准进入居民家中，他们甚至不需要敲门或提前通知。

　　That was the first in a long series of rulings that gutted¹³ the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable¹⁴ searches and seizures¹⁵.

　　这是漫长统治时期中第一个破坏第四修正案中保护无正当理由搜查和逮捕条款的做法。

　　The social upheaval¹⁶ of the 1960s caught the attention of ambitious politicians and led them to focus on crime.

　　1960年的社会动荡使得雄心勃勃的政治家们开始关心并关注犯罪。

　　Daryl Gates, then a rising star in the Los Angeles Police Department, created America's first SWAT team in 1965.

　　达瑞尔盖兹，当时为洛杉矶警察局轰动一时的新星，他于1965年首创了美国第一支特警队。

　　Richard Nixon ran successfully for president on a law-and-order ticket in 1968, bolstered¹⁷ by a “Silent Majority” which, in Mr Balko's view, “began to see a link between drugs, crime, the counter-culture and race”.

　　理查德?尼克松因宣扬严肃法纪，在“沉默的大多数”的支持下，于1968年成功当选总统，在Balko看来，也正是那时，当权者看到了“毒品、犯罪、反文化、种族和犯罪的联系”。

　　Ronald Reagan made Nixon's drug policies tougher.

　　罗纳德?里根上台后，继续强化尼克松的毒品政策。

　　He dramatically increased both federal involvement in combating drugs and asset forfeiture¹⁸, which allows law enforcement to seize goods and property believed to be used in crime or, more controversially, purchased with the proceeds of crime.

　　他在抗击毒品和财产没收中大大增加了联邦的干涉权，这就允许执法能够掌握牵涉到犯罪的商品和财产，更乃至犯罪过程中获得的财物。

　　This gave the police an incentive¹⁹ to find connections between property and drug activity, often at the expense of more serious crimes.

　　这更加激励警察们去寻找财产和毒品活动之间的联系，而这样的寻找往往伴随着更多的恶性犯罪。

　　As Mr Balko notes, “Closing a rape²⁰ or murder case didn't come with a potential kickback²¹ to the police department. Knocking off a mid- or low-level drug dealer²² did.”

　　正如Balko 说的，对警局来说，结束一宗强奸案或谋杀案并没有潜在利益可图，打击一起中低等的毒品交易商才是利益之源。

　　Financial incentives²³ also came through drug-war grants and, after the attacks of September 11th 2001, homeland-security grants that allowed police departments to buy surplus military hardware of dubious²⁴ utility.

　　资金激励的来源也正是这些毒品案，2001年9月11日的毒品案告破后，警局用获得的本土安全的奖金购买了一大堆不知道什么用的军事硬件。

　　Fargo, North Dakota, has received $8m in grants to buy goodies such as an armoured truck with a rotating turret—used “mostly for show, including at the annual city picnic, where police parked it near the children's bouncy castle”.

　　法戈，北达科他州获得了800万美元的奖励，购买了设有旋转炮的装甲车等物品。多数被用来显摆，无论是一年一度的城市野餐还是其他地方，他们一定会停在孩子的充气城堡边。

　　Mr Balko is adept²⁵, in “Rise of the Warrior Cop”, at finding outrageous²⁶ examples of SWAT-team misuse, such as deploying²⁷ heavily armed police to break up small-stakes poker²⁸ games, raid fraternity parties suspected of serving alcohol to underage patrons and arrest barbers for operating without licences.

　　Balko是个内行，在“战警的崛起”一书中找到了大量特警队滥用职权的案例。例如，他们调用全副武装的警察来取缔小赌注的扑克赛，因为怀疑慈善晚会向未成年人提供酒类而突袭晚会，以无照经营的名义逮捕理发店员。

　　But he is too dismissive of arguments that stricter policing may have helped produce the remarkable²⁹ drop in America's crime rate.

　　但是他严重忽视了一点，就是在这样严苛的政策下，美国的犯罪率确实有了显著下降。

　　Thanks to his book, Americans will be more aware of the costs of those methods.

　　也正是因为他的这本书，美国人更加注意到了这些方法带来的副作用。

　　But they—and he—should also consider possible benefits.

　　但是他和这些人都应该考虑到这些政策也是有所裨益的。

　　1.care about 担心,关心

　　So doesn't that mean I care about success?

　　所以这是不是说我不在乎成功呢？

　　Did she care about how her characters are depicted³⁰?

　　罗琳在意她创造的人物是怎样被描述的吗？

　　2.focus on 致力于；使聚焦于

　　That's all you want to focus on.

　　你只需将你的注意力集中于此。

　　The project also will focus on key secreted³¹ pathogenic proteins.

　　该项目也将集中于主要分泌性致病蛋白质。

　　3.public safety 公共安全

　　Game stocks were the motive³², rather than public safety.

　　当时动机出于游戏储备，而非公共安全。

　　The main theme is ensuring public safety, "soriano said.

　　索里亚诺说：“这主要是为了确保公众安全。”

　　4.at the expense of 花费，开销

　　ll reflect ways of "protecting" local economies at the expense of global trade.

　　所有这些都反映了以全球贸易为代价保护本国经济的方法。

　　Capital is being funnelled³³ towards high-tech³⁴ and green energy-related companies at the expense of traditional low-end manufacturers.

　　资本正被导向高科技和绿色能源相关企业，而传统的低端制造商则付出代价。

1 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 pretexts   

n.借口，托辞( pretext的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• On various pretexts they all moved off. 他们以各种各样的借口纷纷离开了。 来自辞典例句
• Pretexts and appearances no longer deceive us. 那些托辞与假象再也不会欺骗我们了。 来自辞典例句

7 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

8 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

9 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

10 obviated   

v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

15 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

16 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

17 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

18 forfeiture   

n.（名誉等）丧失

参考例句：

• Both face maximum forfeitures of about $1.2 million.双方都面临最高120万美元左右的罚金。
• If he should break his day,what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture?如果他到期不还我从这罚金中又能得到什么好处？

19 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

20 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

21 kickback   

n.酬金；佣金，回扣

参考例句：

• Mike got a kickback from a merchant.麦克从商人那里得到了回扣。
• The company had to kickback a lot to the corrupt officer.这家公司必须给腐败的政府官员很大一笔佣金。

22 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

23 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

24 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

25 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

26 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

27 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

28 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

29 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

30 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

31 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

33 funnelled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• He secretly funnelled credit-card information to counterfeiters. 他偷偷地把信用卡信息传递给造假者。
• The water funnelled through the gorge and out onto the plain. 水穿过峡谷流到平原。

34 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。