VOA慢速英语2014 Police, Citizens Work to Create Safer Neighborhoods

 

AS IT IS 2014-09-21 Police, Citizens Work to Create Safer Neighborhoods

Many people have talked about racial problems in the United States since the shooting of an unarmed black teenager last month. A white police officer shot and killed the young man in the community of Ferguson, Missouri.

The incident has brought attention to the sometimes hostile relationship between police and some communities.

So, many police departments are using a method called “community policing” to both fight crime and improve relations. This method is being used in the city of Long Beach, California.

For years, Long Beach has struggled with gang violence, poverty, and racial tensions among local residents and with police.

Twenty-two-year-old Jacob Sarenana says he has been poorly treated by the Long Beach police.

“They always try to mess with me. I ask 'what’s the reason for pulling me over?’ ‘Oh, because you fit the description.’ Really? Really, yeah, I guess I’m always fitting¹ the description then, because I’m always getting pulled over.”

Darick Simpson is a community activist². He has been working to improve relations by organizing meetings between young people and police officers. Almost one-third of Long Beach residents under age 17 are poor. Mr. Simpson says that poverty, and racial differences, combine to cause problems.

“With any differences come some misunderstanding. Because people bring their culture, they bring that history into the workplace, into schools, into different social scenarios³.”

Still, he says he has seen an improvement in relations over the years. Last year, Long Beach had its lowest rate of violent crime in more than 40 years. This year, the rate is even lower.

Don Rodriguez works with young people in the city. He says police officers are more involved with the community than ever before.

“Now we’re seeing [is we're seing] more community people involved in the policing, working with the police, police getting a better feel of the community.”

Jim McDonnell is the chief of police in Long Beach. He says in the past, police officers would tell the community what the problems were and then try to fix them. But now, he says, police work with citizens and community leaders to solve problems together.

“We build a team. And when you have a team, when a crisis⁴ comes up, you’re not dealing⁵ with it by yourself. And too often when we see things get volatile⁶ across America, and whether it’s a racial issue or another similar type of issue -- it’s often because there aren’t those pre-existing relationships in place.”

But he says even successful partnerships⁷ do not guarantee that conflicts can be avoided.

“We will always have issues that arise. We will always have that potential for conflict. It’s not if it happens, it’s when, and more importantly, how we deal with it when it does happen.”

Chief McDonnell says the way to change beliefs is for police officers to be involved with young people all the time, not just when a crime has happened.

1 fitting   

n.[pl.]设备，家具，配件，试穿；adj.适合的

参考例句：

• I'm going to a fitting tomorrow.明天我要去试穿新衣。
• The President's address was a fitting end to a bitter campaign.总统的讲话为一场激烈的竞选运动适时画上了句号。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

7 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句