经济学人309:警察与紧缩 下降趋势

 　　The police and austerity

　　警察与紧缩

　　Down beat

　　下降趋势

　　Budget cuts may not affect crime—but they will change politics

　　削减预算可能不会影响犯罪—但能改变政治

　　Good old-fashioned policing

　　传统治安维持方式

　　POLICING in England and Wales is in crisis and things are about to get nasty. That, at least, is what the coppers¹ would have you believe. Ahead of the annual conference this week of the Police Federation², the policemen's union, Steve White, its leader, cautioned that budget cuts could mean a move towards more“paramilitary” policing, with officers using water cannons³, rubber bullets and tear gas. Theresa May, the home secretary, accused him of scaremongering. Mr White's logic⁴ is certainly fuzzy. But his warnings highlight the deteriorating⁵ relations between the police and their traditional allies, the Conservatives.

　　英格兰和威尔士的警务正处于危机之中，并且情况还会越来越糟。至少警察会让你相信这一点。在本周警察联合会（警察联盟）的年度会议之前，联合会领导人Steve White警告说预算削减意味着更多警察会朝着用高压水枪、橡皮子弹和催泪瓦斯行动这类更加“准军事”的警务发展。内政大臣特里萨·梅指责他是危言耸听。White的逻辑确实有失偏颇。但是他的警告却表明了警察与其传统的盟友保守派关系的恶化。

　　警察与紧缩.jpg

　　Police today are warier⁶ of heavy tactics than they once were. Chris Donaldson, a retired⁷ police officer, was on the streets of Tottenham in 1985, when riots broke out around the Broadwater Farm estate. He was back there in 2011 when disturbances⁸ erupted after police shot and killed Mark Duggan, a suspected gang member. Three decades ago, police were far more willing—sometimes overly so—to use force, says Mr Donaldson. In the 1980s, at the height of battles with striking miners, the police “would definitely be instructed to charge at times,” says Peter Neyroud, a former chief constable⁹ now at Cambridge University.

　　如今的警察相较以前在使用战术上更为精妙。1985年当布罗德沃特农场庄园发生暴动时，Chris Donaldson（现在已经退休）就在附近的托特纳姆的街道上。他于2011年又回到那里，当时警察开枪打死一名疑似帮派成员Mark Duggan而引发骚乱。Donaldson说，30年前，警察更愿意——甚至有时过度—使用武力。在20世纪80年代这个矿工罢工的高潮时期，警察“肯定会时常奉命控告”，Peter Neyroud说道，他是前任警察局长，现在在剑桥大学工作。

　　Today they are more reluctant to use such strategies. Officers try to to contain public disorder¹⁰ with tactics such as kettling, whereby demonstrators are confined to a small area. Rather than leading to paramilitary-style policing, declining ranks of officers could make negotiation¹¹ between police and protesters more common. Short on numbers, cops policing protests will have to behave even more carefully to avoid precipitating¹² trouble. And tougher tactics are “largely anathema¹³ to the British police”, says Tim Newburn, a criminologist at the London School of Economics, with senior officers unconvinced such tactics are effective and certain they are unpopular.

　　而现在警察都不太愿意使用这样的方式。警察试图用灌壶（把示威者限制在小范围的战术）等策略来制止公共秩序混乱。低级别的警官促成警察和反抗者之间的谈判更为常见，而不是采用准军事风格来维持治安。由于警察数量减少，警察在处理抗议活动时不得不更加小心，以免引起麻烦。英国伦敦经济学院一位犯罪学家Tim Newburn说严格的战术“很大程度上是英国警方的诅咒”，因为高级警官不相信这种策略是行之有效的，也不认为它们是受欢迎的。

　　Even after the coalition¹⁴ government's cuts of 20% to police budgets, and an 11% fall in officer numbers since 2010, by historical standards there are still a lot of police about. Bobbies are more numerous today than in the mid-1990s, when law-breaking was at its peak.

　　即使自2010年来，联合政府削减20%的警方预算以及减少11%的警力，按历史标准还有许多政策和预算和警察有关。相比违法的高峰期—20世纪90年代，如今警察的数量还是要多得多。

　　The police have long resisted reductions to their budgets. But few would have thought the fiercest cuts, harshest criticism and clearest diminution¹⁵ in their political clout¹⁶ would come under the Tories, so long the party of law and order. With David Cameron, the prime minister, determined¹⁷ to save money and reform what he once called the “last great unreformed public service”, the once-close relationship between the Tories and Britain's law-enforcers has soured.

　　警察总是抵制削减他们的预算。但是没人想到，最大幅度的削减、最残酷的批评以及警察明显下降的政治影响力会发生在一向重视法律和秩序的保守党执政时期。首相卡梅伦下定决心要节省开支，并且决心改革他曾经称作 “最后一个大型的未被改革的公共服务”，这让保守党与英国警察一度亲密的关系遭到破坏。

　　1.accuse of 指责，控告

　　例句:I hate it when people accuse us of that.

　　我讨厌别人就那件事指责我们。

　　2.between and 之间

　　例句:The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.

　　你是什么样的人和你想成为什么样的之间的差距就是，你做了什么。

　　3.break out 爆发；突然发生

　　例句:He may break out in a rash when he eats these nuts.

　　他吃了这些坚果可能会长皮疹。

　　4.reluctant to 不愿意；不情愿

　　例句:We were reluctant to start the long trudge¹⁸ home.

　　我们很不愿意踏上如此漫长艰辛的回家之路。

1 coppers   

铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币

参考例句：

• I only paid a few coppers for it. 我只花了几个铜板买下这东西。
• He had only a few coppers in his pocket. 他兜里仅有几个铜板。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

6 warier   

谨慎的，小心翼翼的( wary的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Beijing itself also become warier. 中国政府本身也变得更为谨慎。
• That suggests investors are warier than ever of lending to the banking system. 这种情况表明，投资者对借钱给银行系统的担忧比之前加剧了。

7 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。

8 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

9 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

11 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

12 precipitating   

adj.急落的，猛冲的v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的现在分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀

参考例句：

• Precipitating electrode plate is a key part in electrostatic precipitation equipment. 静电收尘板是静电收尘设备中的关键部件。 来自互联网
• The precipitation bond adopts a sloped tube to enhance the precipitating efficiency. 沉淀池采用斜管，提高了沉降效率。 来自互联网

13 anathema   

n.诅咒；被诅咒的人(物)，十分讨厌的人(物)

参考例句：

• Independence for the Kurds is anathema to Turkey and Iran.库尔德人的独立对土耳其和伊朗来说将是一场梦魇。
• Her views are ( an ) anathema to me.她的观点真叫我讨厌。

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

15 diminution   

n.减少；变小

参考例句：

• They hope for a small diminution in taxes.他们希望捐税能稍有减少。
• He experienced no diminution of his physical strength.他并未感觉体力衰落。

16 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

17 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

18 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。