【The Economist】America’s police

The United States needs to overhaul its law-enforcement system

　　美国需要改革其执法系统

THE store camera tells a harrowing tale. John Crawford was standing in a Walmart in Ohio holding an air rifle—a toy he had picked off a shelf and was presumably planning to buy. He was pointing it at the floor while talking on his phone and browsing other goods. The children playing near him did not consider him a threat; nor did their mother, who was standing a few feet away. The police, responding to a 911 caller who said that a black man with a gun was threatening people, burst in and shot him dead. The children’s mother died of a heart attack in the ensuing panic. In September a grand jury declined to indict the officers who shot Mr Crawford.

　　商店的摄像头讲述了一个悲惨的故事。John Crawford在俄亥俄州沃尔玛里抓着一把玩具气枪。他刚刚从架子上挑选这把玩具气枪，也许正打算买。他边打电话并浏览其他商品，并用枪瞄准地面。他附近玩的孩子们与站在几英尺之外孩子们的母亲都没有感受到威胁。突然，警察突然冲进来开枪将他打死，仅仅因为一通“说有个黑人正在持枪抢劫”的911来电。那位母亲因此由于恐慌而死于心脏病。在9月份，大陪审团拒绝起诉军官Crawford。

Most people have probably never heard this story, for such tragedies are disturbingly common: America’s police shoot dead more than one person a day (nobody knows the exact number as not all deaths are reported). But two recent cases have sparked nationwide protests. First Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot dead in murky circumstances in Ferguson, Missouri, just after he robbed a shop, and then Eric Garner, a harmless middle-aged black man guilty only of selling single cigarettes on the streets of New York, was choked to death by a policeman while five cops watched—and this time the event was filmed by a bystander.

　　大多数人可能从未听说过这个故事,这样的悲剧是令人不安的是常见的——美国的警察一天击毙的人不止一个(没有人知道确切数字,因为并不是所有的死亡都会被报道)。但最近的两个案例引发了全国性的抗议。第一个是黑人少年Michael Brown，在他刚刚抢劫了一家商店之后不久,就在密苏里州弗格森一个黑暗的环境里被枪杀了。第二个是中年黑人Eric Garner，仅仅因为在纽约的街道上贩卖散包烟而被认为有罪。他被其中一名警察窒息致死，而周围有五名警察围观。这一次的事件被一个路人记录了下来。

So far much of the debate within America has focused on race. That is not unreasonable: the victims were all black, and most of the policemen involved were white. American blacks feel that the criminal-justice system works against them, rather than for them. Some 59% of white Americans have confidence in the police, but only 37% of blacks do. This is poisonous: if any racial group distrusts the enforcers of the law, it erodes the social contract. It also hurts America’s moral standing in the world . But racial division, rooted as it is in America’s past, is not easily mitigated.

　　在美国有不少的争论是关于人种问题的。这也并不是没有缘由的——受害者都是黑色的,大多数参与的警察却是白人。美国的黑人群体觉得刑事司法系统是针对的他们而不是对白人。大约有59%的美国白人信任警察,黑人群体中仅仅只有37%。这是有害的——如果任何种族群体不信任的执法人员,这将不利于维持社会秩序。同时，它还伤害了美国在世界上道德方面的地位。但是，源于美国过去历史的种族分裂，很难轻易缓解。

There is, however, another prism through which to examine these grim stories: the use of excessive violence by the state . It, too, has complex origins, but quite a lot of them may be susceptible to reform. In many cases Americans simply do not realise how capricious and violent their law-enforcement system is compared with those of other rich countries. It could be changed in ways that would make America safer, and fairer to both blacks and whites.

　　然而,另一个视角来审视这些残酷的事件，都是由于过度的使用暴力。它也许有复杂的起源,但大多都很容去改变。在大多数情况下,美国人根本没有意识他们的执法系统与其他发达国家相比是多么的反复无常和充满暴力。它的改变将使美国更加稳定，黑人与白人之间更加公平。

Don’t shoot

Bits of America’s criminal-justice system are exemplary—New York’s cops pioneered data-driven policing, for instance—but overall the country is an outlier for all the wrong reasons. It jails nearly 1% of its adult population, more than five times the rich-country average. A black American man has, by one estimate, a one in three chance of spending time behind bars. Sentences are harsh. Some American states impose life without parole for persistent but non-violent offenders; no other rich nation does. America’s police are motivated to be rapacious: laws allow them to seize assets they merely suspect are linked to a crime and then spend the proceeds on equipment. And, while other nations have focused on community policing, some American police have become paramilitary, equipping themselves with grenade launchers and armoured cars. The number of raids by heavily armed SWAT teams has risen from 3,000 a year in 1980 to 50,000 today, by one estimate.

不要开枪

少量的美国的刑事司法系统是值得效仿的。纽约的警察首创根据数据维持治安。例如,整个国家是错误的原因的局外人。美国监禁了近1%的成年人口,这是其他发达国家的平均水平五倍多。据估计,美国黑人男子,有三分之一时间花在酒吧里。惩罚是严厉的。美国的一些州会有非暴力罪犯施加无假释终身监禁;其他发达国家并不会这么做。美国警察贪婪的动机是:法律允许他们得到与犯罪的资产,并且将收益花在装备上。然而，其他的洲则集中在社区治安,一些美国警察已经成为准军事武装，自己拥有榴弹发射器和装甲车。据估计，全副武装的特警队的突然袭数量从3000起一年50000。

Above all, American law enforcement is unusually lethal: even the partial numbers show that the police shot and killed at least 458 people last year. By comparison, those in England and Wales shot and killed no one.

　　最重要的是,美国的执法通常是致命的:甚至有部分数据显示,在过去一年警察开枪打死了至少458人。相比之下,在英格兰和威尔士却没有一人开枪致死。

Fewer armoured cars, more body cameras

One reason why so many American police shoot first is that so many American civilians are armed. This year 46 policemen were shot dead; last year 52,000 were assaulted. When a policeman is called out to interrupt a robbery, he knows that one mistake could mean he never makes it to retirement. As this newspaper has often pointed out, guns largely explain why America’s murder rate is several times that of other rich countries. And the vastly disparate rate at which policemen shoot young black men is not simply a matter of prejudice. Roughly 29% of Americans shot by the police are black, but so are about 42% of cop killers whose race is known.

不要装甲车，要随身相机　

　　许多警察第一次射击的原因一是美国的平民武装。今年有46位警察被击毙;去年有52000人受到攻击。当一名警察接到电话去阻止一次抢劫,他明白一个错误可能意味着退休。正如本报经常指出的那样,枪支在很大程度上解释了为什么美国的谋杀率是其他发达国家的几倍。年轻黑人占据截然不同的比例可能不仅仅是一种偏见。被警察射杀的大约有29%是黑人,但大约有42%种族未知的警察杀人犯。

If America did not have 300m guns in circulation, much of this would change. That, sadly, is not going to happen soon. But there are other ways to make the police less violent.

　　如果美国没有300m步枪的循环使用,情况将会有效的改变。但这种情形并不会很快发生。好在，我们还有其他方法来使警方减少暴力。

The first is transparency. Every police force should report how many people it kills to the federal government. And if communities want to buy gadgets, they should give their police body cameras. These devices deter bad behaviour on both sides and make investigations easier. Had the officer who shot Mr Brown worn one, everyone would know how it happened.

　　首先是透明度。每位警察都应该向联邦政府报告杀死了多少人。如果社区想买装备,他们应该给警察随身相机。这些设备将阻止双方的不良行为,并且会使调查更容易。如果真的有警察射杀了Brown先生这一件事,每个人都应该知道这是如何发生的。

The second is accountability: it must be easier to sack bad cops. Many of America’s 12,500 local police departments are tiny and internal disciplinary panels may consist of three fellow officers, one of whom is named by the officer under investigation. If an officer is accused of a crime, the decision as to whether to indict him may rest with a local prosecutor who works closely with the local police, attends barbecues with them and depends on the support of the police union if he or she wants to be re-elected. Or it may rest with a local “grand jury” of civilians, who hear only what the prosecutor wants them to hear. To improve accountability, complaints should be heard by independent arbiters, brought in from outside.

　　第二个是问责制。问责制地能轻松解雇品行不端的警察。在美国的12500个本地警察部门规模都很小，内部纪律小组可能由三个警官组成,其中一个警官会被调查。如果一个警官被指控犯罪，是否起诉他将取决于与当地警察密切的当地检察官、参加聚会的情况。如果他或她想要连任还需要依靠警察工会的支持。问责制也有可能取决于当地平民的“大陪审团”，“大陪审团”只听从检察官希望他们所听的从。投诉应该听从独立的仲裁者从外面带来的信息以改善问责制。

The third, and hardest, is reversing the militarisation of the police. Too many see their job as to wage war on criminals; too many poor neighbourhoods see the police as an occupying army. The police need more training and less weaponry: for a start, the Pentagon should stop handing out military kit to neighbourhood cops.

　　第三点，也是最难做到的一点，就是国民经济军事化。太多人认为警察这项职业就如同发动战争的罪犯,甚至很多贫困的人将警察认为是雇佣军。警察需要更多的培训以及更少的武器。其中首先要做的就是,五角大楼应该停止发放军事装备给社区警察。

In many ways America remains a model for other countries. Its economic engine has roared back to life. Its values are ones which decent people should want to spread. Yet its criminal-justice system, the backbone of any society, is deeply flawed. Changing it will be hard; but change is overdue.

　　在很多方面，美国依然是其他国家的典范。它的经济引擎对着生命咆哮，他的价值观只是富人想要传播的。但它作为社会的支柱的刑事司法体系却是漏洞百出。改变现状将非常艰难，但绝对没有过时。