纽约时报 警察工会 改革路上的巨型拦路虎(2)

Politicians tempted¹ to cross police unions have long feared being labeled soft on crime by the unions, or more serious consequences.

长期以来，试图越过警察工会的政客一直惧怕被工会贴上姑息养奸的标签，甚至还有比这更为严重的后果，

When Steve Fletcher, a Minneapolis city councilman and frequent Police Department critic,

经常针对当地警察局发表批判言论的明尼阿波利斯市议员史蒂夫·弗莱彻

sought to divert money away from hiring officers and toward a newly created office of violence prevention,

试图转移招聘警官的资金，用于建设新成立的防暴办公室，

he said, the police stopped responding as quickly to 911 calls placed by his constituents².

那以后，他表示，警方接到他的选民拨打的报警电话就会放慢响应速度。

"It operates a little like a protection racket," Mr. Fletcher said of the union.

“那种作派，就跟收保护费（的黑社会）一样，”弗莱彻在谈及警察工会时说道。

A spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department said he was unable to comment.

明尼阿波利斯警察局的一名发言人表示，对此他无法置评。

A few days after prosecutors³ in Minneapolis charged an officer with murder in the death of George Floyd,

明尼阿波利斯检察官指控一名警官谋杀乔治·弗洛伊德的几天后，

the president of the city's police union denounced political leaders,

该市警察工会主席发出了谴责政治领袖的言论，

accusing them of selling out his members and firing four officers without due process.

指责他们出卖他的会员以及未经正当程序解雇四名警官。

"It is despicable behavior," the union president, Lt. Bob Kroll, wrote in a letter to union members obtained by a local reporter.

“太卑鄙了，”当地记者获取到的，工会主席鲍勃·克罗尔中尉致工会成员的信中写道。

He also referred to protesters as a "terrorist movement."

他对抗议群众的称呼也是“恐怖主义行为”。

Mr. Kroll, who is himself the subject of at least 29 complaints,

克罗尔本人就曾前后受到过至少29起投诉，

has also chided the Obama administration for its "oppression of police,"

他曾指责奥巴马政府“压迫警察”，

and praised President Trump⁴ as someone who "put the handcuffs on the criminals instead of us."

称赞特朗普总统是“将罪犯而不是我们绳之以法”的人。

In other instances, unions have not resisted reforms outright⁵, but have made them difficult to put in place.

其他时候，工会没有直接抵制改革，而是选择了阻挠改革落地。

Federal intervention⁶ is often one of the few reliable ways of reforming police departments.

有效改革警察部门的办法寥寥无几，联邦干预算是其中之一。

But in Cleveland, the union helped slow the adoption⁷ of reforms mandated⁸ by a federal consent decree,

克利夫兰工会就加入了拖延采纳联邦核准令强制要求的改革政策的队伍，

according to Jonathan Smith, a former U.S. Justice Department official

据曾负责监督政府对克利夫兰警察公务行为的调查的，

who oversaw⁹ the government's investigation¹⁰ of policing practices there.

美国司法部前官员乔纳森·史密斯透露。

Mr. Smith said union officials had signaled to rank-and-file officers that the changes should not be taken seriously,

史密斯称，工会领导曾致意普通警官，那些变动，

such as a requirement that they report and investigate instances in which they pointed¹¹ a gun.

比如要求他们举枪时要报告、要调查的要求他们都无需当真。

"I heard this in lots of departments," Mr. Smith said.

“这话我在很多部门都听过，”史密斯说。

"‘Wait it out. Do the minimum you have to do.'"

“‘就跟它耗，能不劳神就不劳神。’”

He said he believed that the reforms have since taken hold.

他说，他相信，改革就是从那时候扎根的。

1 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

2 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

4 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。

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

9 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。