【警大考試】警察專業英文 - Police, Guns & Justice Part II

 

 

警察特考 警察專業英文 權威 - 呂艾肯老師  英文教室

 

 

* 該圖是諷刺右邊那張白人的臉即使在深夜開車也不會發生任何警察的攔阻

       但一旦是左邊的老黑朋友 即使在大白天 警方還是要鳴笛盤查

 

 

這幾篇老早翻好過了好幾天了，只是一直遲遲沒放上去。正如之前所預告的，美國境內的種族風暴山雨欲來。在昨天所發生的紐約殺警案後，坦白講，我認為不是一個段落，應該會有進一步更激烈的手段會再次發生。自從911後，美國國會通過《愛國者法案》（USA PATRIOT Act）。高舉反恐與國土安全的大旗下，隨後一連串big givernment的作為例如稜鏡計畫(PRISM) ，整合擴張地方與聯邦的公權力，對大眾造成的影響應該會在這幾年有所回應。

 

警政模式也是一樣，由最早的政治干涉時期（1840~1920）、專業化時期(1930~1970)、社區警政時期（1980~），現在更提出由情資導向(intelligence-led)警政為主的國土安全警政(homeland security policing) 。美國警方的權力與火力配備提高到無以復加。但是警察並非軍隊。優先保護的是人民而非國家。美國目前的警民對立衝突升高，我想也該是警政模式再次探討的時候了吧。以古為殷鑑，現在的時間點就如同專業化時期的前夕，”1968年成立的 Kerner 委員會的研究發現，種族在過去 40 年來是必定存在的影響因素(Weitzer & Tuch, 2006)，早期種族分類僅區分為黑白兩種族群 (Campbell & Schuman, 1972; Furstengerg & Wellford, 1973; Hadar & Snortum, 1974; Hahn, 1971; Zeit, 1965)。近年來的相關研究已將種族增加到黑人、白人及西班牙裔等三類，甚至於更多 (Reitzel et al., 2004)。” 當時美國的民權與種族運對風起雲湧。跟目前的情況相近但還未到臨界點，但應該不遠了。

 

此外，美國警政模式在社區警政下變相的美其名為國土安全警政骨子裡卻是專業化方向的回頭路。專業化提升科技配備與戰術來解決犯罪問題，但同時間是否也忽略了程序正義而導致民怨與對立呢?這真的是要再次去思考的問題。本篇另外有提到stand your ground法案，這種強調正當自衛的法案，某種程度也變相的影響擁槍派與警方的裁量權。後續的影響各位可以參考也是在佛羅里達州發生白人輔警開槍射殺黑人青少年Trayvon Martin的前案也同樣不予起訴，同樣引起美國人民對於擁槍權、自衛權和司法公正等等爭議。

 

 
* 警察手上拿的speed detecor 測速器 顯示的不是開車速度 而是駕駛膚色~~超酸的一張圖

 

 

No indictment - Brown案後另一起Garner案再次不起訴判決

 

Thanks to a number of leaks, it was no surprise when Robert McCulloch announced that a grand jury did not indict Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The decision by a jury of nine whites and three blacks was no less upsetting for many Americans. Hundreds of people waited outside the court house to hear the lengthy decision in person. Some responded with tears, others with protests. An evening that began in sombre anticipation has turned violent.

多虧票數的外流，使McCulloch克宣布，大陪審團對射殺手無寸鐵的黑人少年Brown的白人警察Wilson不予以起訴時，不會讓人驚訝乍舌。9位白人和3位黑人的陪審團所做的決定對於許多美國人來說真是炸翻了鍋。數以百計的人在法院外等著親耳聽見此冗長的裁決。有些洗淚以對，其他則是抗議以對。抑鬱預期下的夜晚演變成暴力的衝突。

 

At least one police car has been torched, and several buildings, including a Walgreens, have been either looted or set on fire. Some protesters threw bottles, and there were reports of gun shots. Police in riot gear and gas masks have responded with gas or smoke to control the crowds. Airspace in the St Louis area appears to be restricted. Protesters have taken to the streets in other cities around the country, including Los Angeles and New York.

至少有一台警車被焚毀，一些建築物，包括一間藥妝店(Walgreens)，被洗劫或放火。一些示威者投擲瓶罐，並據報有槍聲傳出。配鎮暴裝備與防毒面具的警方以催淚瓦斯或煙霧控制住群眾。聖路易斯地區的航空區則被管制。全國各地其他城市包括洛杉磯和紐約的示威者走上街頭。

 

Mr Brown’s parents were “profoundly disappointed” with the decision, but have asked that protests be peaceful. “Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction,” in a released statement. President Barack Obama echoed this request, even as he noted that anger is an “understandable reaction”. He asked that police respond responsibly: “they need to work with the community, not against the community,” he said, adding that officers should “distinguish the few people who want to engage in violence from the vast majority of people who want to protest peacefully.”

布朗的父母對此裁決“深感失望”，但要求和平抗爭。“以暴制暴並非適合的反應，”在發布的聲明中表示。美國總統歐巴馬對於此要求做出回應，就如同他指出，這種憤怒是“可以理解的反應”。他要求警方負責地處理：“他們需與社會各界合作，而非對抗社會各界。”並補充說，官員應“區分極少數想進行暴力行為的人跟絕大多數以理性和平抗議的人。“

 even as = just as

 

The president has instructed Eric Holder, the attorney general, to work with police, as there is otherwise “too much distrust” between police and some citizens. As Mr Obama said in his short statement, the law too often seems to be “applied in a discriminatory fashion”. Systemic racism is still a problem, and so-called “justifiable homicides” are on the rise. Two decades ago there were 1.92 justified homicides for every 10,000 violent crimes; in 2011 that number went up to 3.35.

總統指示檢察總長Holder與警方合作，因為警察跟一些人民之間存在著很大的“不信任”。正如歐巴馬在簡短的聲明當中說到，法律似乎往往被“以歧視方式”運用在全國各地。系統性的種族主義仍是個問題，且所謂的“正當殺人”狀況越來越多。二十年前，每一萬件暴力案中有1.92件正當殺人;在2011年，這個數字躍升到3.35件。

 

l  The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law stands on the dividing line between an excuse, justification and an exculpation. In certain circumstances, homicide is justified when it prevents greater harm to innocents. A homicide can only be justified if there is sufficient evidence to prove that it was reasonable to believe that the offending party posed an imminent threat to the life or well-being of another. To rule a justifiable homicide, one must objectively prove to a trier of fact, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the suspect intended to commit violence. A homicide in this instance is blameless and distinct from the less stringent criteria authorizing deadly force in stand your ground rulings.

刑法中正當/自衛殺人的概念處在托詞，抗辯和開脫申辯的分界線上。在特定情況下，當殺害他人可避免無辜者更大的傷害時，它會是無罪的。假若有足夠的證據證明合理相信加害方會做出對他人生命或福祉有急迫的威脅時，殺害他人會是無罪的。要裁定是自衛殺人下，必須向法官提出客觀地證明，超過合理懷疑的認為嫌犯意欲犯下暴行。這種情況下殺人是無法責難的，並有別於“不退讓法”中授權致命性武器下較不嚴謹的標準。

 

l  美國步槍協會(NRA)在積極推廣著31個州已通過的“不退讓法”(Stand Your Ground)，「站在自己的土地上」(stand your ground)，就有權開槍不需要承擔刑事或民事的法律責任。此項法案甚至被反槍械團體形容為「先開槍再說法」（Shoot First Law）。該法允許民眾在他人侵害你，而公共權力又不能給你應有的保護時，可在生命安全遭受威脅有權使用致命武力保護自己。對抗中無需選擇退讓。這條法律，主要是因為在去年17歲的黑人少年馬丁在佛羅里達州的桑福德市被一名白人協警(類似義警)齊默爾曼槍殺。現在，齊默爾曼被判無罪，而這一審判結果也導致了美國很多城市爆發了遊行示威。要強調的是，齊默爾曼被判無罪的依據是stand-your-ground law—不退讓法。因為齊默爾曼說，他之所以開槍是因為當時他的人身受到嚴重威脅。而跟據較早通過“不退讓法”的22個州資料顯示，由於該法律允許人們使用致命武力，“合法”兇殺案上升53%。

“不退讓法”常常與另一條公民自衛法相提並論，那就是“城堡法”（Castle Law）“堡壘原則”（Castle Doctrine）。

* 上圖則顯示在美國通過 "不退讓法" (Stand Your Ground)的州群

    下圖則顯示美國各州政黨的傾向。紅州較支持共和黨，藍州則較支持民主黨。

  「紫州」則是兩黨之間的搖擺州。大家應該有注意到，各州政黨傾向與不退讓法通過與否有著驚人的正相關~
    

 

 

 

A probationary New York police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man in Brooklyn on November. In Cleveland a police officer shot and killed a black 12-year-old boy who made the mistake of reaching for a fake pistol. And as the grand jury trial reaffirms, it is very difficult to indict a police officer for killing someone.

紐約實習警察今年11月在布魯克林開槍打死名手無寸鐵的黑人男子。克里伏蘭一名員警開槍殺死一名不該拿假槍靠近警方的12歲黑人男孩。而大陪審團審判重申，要起訴警察殺害某人是非常困難的。

 

Race is America’s deepest problem, but multiple small changes can mitigate it.

種族問題是美國最深層的難題，而一些小小的改變，就可減緩。

 

Riots are rarely so widely anticipated. When the prosecutor announced the grand jury’s decision not to charge a police officer with a crime for shooting an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, cops in riot gear were already in place and barriers surrounded municipal buildings. Mr Brown’s parents and Barack Obama called for calm. Yet soon America’s TV screens were full of burning police cars, crowds coughing on tear gas, and young black men throwing bricks and smashing shops. America’s history of racial injustice looked as potent as ever.

很罕見暴動廣泛地被預期到。由晚上8點11月24日，當檢察官發表，大陪審團裁決定不起訴開槍射殺手無寸鐵的黑人少年Brown的警察時，警方已整裝待命並在市府機關建築佈滿拒馬。儘管布朗的父母親和歐巴馬總統呼籲大家冷靜。然而，很快的全美電視螢幕都是警車起火，因催淚瓦斯咳嗽的群眾，且非裔青年投擲磚塊並砸店的新聞。美國史上的種族不平等看來仍力道依舊不減。

 

Looking back at the riots in Los Angeles in 1992 that followed the acquittal of four white police officers who had savagely beaten a black motorist, Rodney King, a lot has changed. America has a black president. The LA riots, which left 53 dead, happened in one of America’s great cities, and sparked violence in others. This time the focus was a struggling suburb; in Los Angeles black teenagers protested peacefully alongside white ones.

回首1992年4名白人警察兇殘毆打黑人駕駛，Rodney King卻無罪釋放後發生的洛杉磯暴動，很多都改變了。美國有了位黑人總統。造成53死的洛杉磯暴動，發生在美國大城之一的LA，且引發其他暴力行為。這次焦點是在艱困的郊區;洛杉磯黑人青少年以白人青少年並肩和平抗議。

 

Blacks plainly still suffer prejudice across America: they account for 86% of the vehicle stops made by police in Ferguson. Blacks’ biggest problem is now poverty. Like many post-war suburbs across America, Ferguson is stuck between the prosperous white exurbs of St Louis and the city’s somewhat revitalised centre. In 1990 its population was three-quarters white; by 2010, it had become two-thirds black. The sub-prime mortgage crisis hit it hard. Many of its homeowners still owe more than they own.

在全美，講白了，黑人仍然遭受偏見：Ferguson警方攔停的車輛中有86％是黑人駕駛。黑人現在最大的問題是貧困。像美國各地許多南北戰後郊區，Ferguson卡在聖路易斯繁華的白人富豪社區和相當於新興都市中心之間。1990年，其人口有3/4是白人;到2010年，已變成2/3是黑人。次貸金融風暴重創下。許多屋主欠下的遠超過擁有的。

 

Solving the problems of places like Ferguson is less about passing more anti-discrimination laws than about rekindling economic growth and spreading the proceeds. But there are also ways of making politics and policing work better that would contribute greatly to racial harmony in America.

通過更多的反歧視法來解決像Ferguson這種地方的問題比重燃經濟增長與擴展收益來的少。但還是有能大大地促進美國種族和諧政治手段與警政模式以將這些問題能做得更好的方式。

 

 

Racial Profiling 種族面相

* 以上這張圖則是顯示美國各州有無嚴定對於駕駛或行人不得有種族面像的歧視行為的分布圖

 

相關討論請參考: 警察專業英文 Police, Guns & Justice Part I

http://blog.xuite.net/luek1n/twblog/278842582