美国国家公共电台 NPR How The Perceived 'War On Cops' Plays Into Politics And Policing

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Police will remember 2016 as a grim chapter in what some of them started calling the war on cops. As NPR's Martin Kaste reports, the ambush¹ killings² this year led police to feel like they were under siege.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: The darkest moment for American police this year was July 7 in downtown Dallas, when police officers doing security for a peaceful protest march suddenly found themselves under attack.

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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: These law enforcement officers were targeted, and nearly a dozen officers were shot. Five were killed.

KASTE: And those weren't the only cops targeted this year. Deadly ambushes⁴ followed in Baton⁵ Rouge⁶, Des Moines, Palm Springs.

SETH STOUGHTON: There has been an increase in the total number.

KASTE: That's Seth Stoughton, a former cop, now an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina. He's been tracking premeditated murders of law enforcement officers, what he calls police assassinations⁷. And he says the number of police killed like this has jumped from five or six last year to somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 12 this year.

STOUGHTON: It looks like a huge increase, and it is a huge increase. But it's a huge percentage increase involving very small numbers.

KASTE: Twelve deaths, horrible as they are, have to be put into the statistical⁸ context of a country with close to a million law enforcement officers. Stoughton says statistical context is important.

STOUGHTON: On the other hand, it's not helpful at all because police officers don't feel any less under siege - don't feel any less threatened because I pull up a spreadsheet.

KASTE: And that's where this gets tricky⁹. For the last couple of years, academics and police reform groups have been pushing back against the idea of a war on cops by citing big-picture statistics, for instance, the fact that, overall, far fewer police are killed on duty now than a generation ago. But those cold stats sometimes aren't enough to change perceptions. Major Max Geron says he's been hearing the phrase war on cops a lot this year from his fellow officers.

MAX GERON: They use it in social media. They use it in their discussions. And for many officers, there is that belief.

KASTE: Geron himself doesn't like the phrase war on cops. But he understands where it comes from, especially where he works - in the Dallas Police Department.

GERON: The human brain is a narrative¹⁰ processor. And the stories and the things that these officers particularly witnessed serve to reinforce the idea that they are being victimized, that they are being attacked, whether that is in fact the overall case or not.

KASTE: The belief in a war on cops can have real political consequences. It's been used as an argument against police reform movements such as Black Lives Matter. And it also led many rank-and-file officers to support Donald Trump¹¹ during the campaign. And it's not just a left-right thing. Gun control groups are also making an issue of police deaths. Without going so far as talking about a war on police, the group Everytown for Gun Safety says shootings of police are an argument for stricter background checks on gun sales. Sarah Tofte is the group's research director.

SARAH TOFTE: What we're seeing is more cops are being shot in states without background check laws. And, you know, I think a piece of that is, you know, fewer dangerous individuals are able to get easy access to firearms.

KASTE: Politics aside, the war on cops is also having a practical effect on everyday policing. In Dallas, Major Geron says the officers there are now being more cautious. They're more likely to wait for backup, which he thinks is a good thing. But he doesn't want that caution to become something darker.

GERON: Along with the discussions about safety and security, we, as leaders, need to continue to push the message of empathy with our citizenry. They're not the enemy.

KASTE: After an attack like the one in Dallas, he says, police have to fight the tendency to see the job as a matter of us versus¹² them.

Martin Kaste, NPR News.

1 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

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 ambushes   

n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• He was a specialist in ambushes, he said, and explained his tactics. 他说自己是埋伏战斗方面的专家，并讲述了他的战术。 来自互联网
• It makes ambushes rather fun. 它使得埋伏战术非常有趣。 来自互联网

5 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

6 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

7 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

8 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。