評論
打印
United States
美國
Recruiting police officers - the force is weak.
招募警察——孱弱的武裝
Police departments struggle to stay fully staffed.
警察系統艱難維持滿員狀態。
STAR WARS can be used to sell almost anything, from Lego to a career in policing.
星球大戰可以作為從樂高到開辟政治生涯等幾乎所有事情的噱頭。
Fort Worth’s police department released a recruitment video on its Facebook page in December featuring an officer at target practice with a stormtrooper.
12月，沃斯堡的警察局在臉書上發布了一條招募視頻，畫面中是一個官員和暴風兵（星球大戰中的人物）進行目標打擊訓練。
The white-clad soldiers are notoriously poor shots, and the video shows the galactic GI missing every attempt he makes until he creeps so far forward that his goggles are very nearly touching his target.
這些身著白衣的暴風兵們一直以槍法沒有準星“著稱”，在視頻里，這些星際士兵們除非躡手躡腳接近目標直到面對面，否則沒法中靶。
When the exasperated officer asks “who referred you to us?”, Darth Vader peeks out from the back of the room, shaking his helmeted head in disgust.
當被激怒的官員問到：“到底是誰把你招進來的？”，黑武士正在房間后面偷看，嫌棄的搖了搖他戴著黑色頭盔的頭。
The scrolling text at the end of the video, which has garnered 17m views thus far, urges: “Join our Force! If you have what it takes to be a Fort Worth Police Officer and are a better aim than a Stormtrooper.”
這個視頻在網上有1700萬的播放量，視頻最后的滾動字幕上顯示著：“如果你有成為沃斯堡警官的資歷并且能比暴風兵更擅長射擊，那就加入我們吧！”
The advert underscores a serious problem affecting police forces nationwide.
這則招募廣告揭示了現在全國警局面臨的一個問題。
Economic and social changes have made it harder for police departments to keep their forces fully staffed, and lead to increasingly desperate recruitment.
經濟和社會的發展使得警局難以維持充足的警力，也就導致了這些孤注一擲的招募。
The Los Angeles Police Department was short of nearly 100 officers as of mid-December—only 1% of its total workforce, but still enough to be felt on the ground, says Captain Alan Hamilton, who runs recruitment for the department.
負責警署招募工作的阿蘭-漢密爾頓警監談到：“洛杉磯警察署自12月中旬起空缺近100個職位，雖然這只占職工總數的1%，但是這依然有著切實的影響。”
Philadelphia had 350 vacancies, largely due to a spate of retirements.
費城的警察職位空缺達到了350個，這主要歸因于大量的退休人員。
Last spring, Dallas cancelled two academy classes for lack of applicants; its preliminary applications dropped by over 30% between 2010 and 2015.
去年春天，因為缺少求職申請者，達拉斯警局取消兩期警校培訓班；初步的求職申請在2010年到2015年降幅超過30%。
In 2012, the ratio of police officers to population hit its lowest level since 1997, according to Uniform Crime Reporting Programme data published by the FBI.
根據美國聯邦調查局公布的犯罪數據報告數據：在2012年，警官人數占總人口數的比例達到了自1997年以來的最低點。
The dynamics underpinning the shortages vary by department, but there are national trends making it harder for police forces to attract applicants.
每個警局的職員短缺程度不同，但是整個國家的趨勢使得招募陷入困境。
The first is a strong economy.
第一個原因是繁榮的經濟。
Nelson Lim, a researcher at the RAND Corporation, a think-tank, says this is nothing new.
智庫蘭德公司的調查員納爾森-里姆表示：“難以招募并不是新的問題。”
When plenty of jobs are available, people are usually less motivated to enter dangerous professions.
當工作機會增多的時候，人們就不太愿意去從事危險的工作。
Police forces as well as the armed forces tend to field less interest in boom times.
警察和武裝部隊這種職業在繁榮時期往往不是一個令人感興趣的領域。
The second is the perception of increased danger associated with policing: 135 officers were killed in the line of duty between January 1st 2016 and December 28th 2016—a 10% increase from 2015 but fewer than the 192 killed in 2007.
第二個原因是，在很多人眼中，警察職位是一個危險的工作：從2016年1月1日到12月28日有135名警察在執勤中被殺，相比2015年警察的死亡人數上升了10%，但是相比2007年警察的死亡人數192人卻是減少了。
Shooting deaths increased from 41 to 64.
死于槍殺的人數從41人上升到64人。
Several of them were high profile and gruesome, such as the assassination of five Dallas police officers in July 2016.
其中有幾起引人注目的可怕事件：如2016年7月達拉斯警局的五名警察被暗殺的事件。
“When you look around the nation and you see the acts of violence directed at police officers—it makes people reluctant to join. Many people join the profession when they’re 22 or 23 when parents still have a heavy influence,” says Scott Walton, deputy chief in Dallas, though sympathy can also boost recruitment.
達拉斯警局副局長斯科特-沃頓表示：“當你環顧整個國家，你會看到一些針對警察的暴力事件，這使人們不愿意從事這份警察工作。很多人會在22歲或23歲加入警察的隊伍，或者是受到從事警察職業父母的深刻影響而從事這份職業。”不過對警察遭遇的同情可能也會促進招募工作進行。
Dallas has seen an uptick in applications since its officers were attacked.
所以自從警察受到襲擊后，達拉斯警局的申請人變多了。
The last is the image of policing.
最后一個原因就是警官的形象。
The deaths of several unarmed black men at the hands of police officers and the ensuing backlash seem to have made police work less appealing.
幾位并未攜帶武器的黑人在警官手里死去，引發了對警察的強烈抵制，這使得警官工作越來越失去吸引力。
“We have a situation where law enforcement is being scrutinised more heavily,” says Mr Hamilton of the LAPD.
洛杉磯警局的漢密爾頓先生談到：“我們正處于執法被公眾嚴厲審查的時期。”
According to Gallup, a polling organisation, trust in law enforcement generally has remained fairly stable since it began surveying the topic in 1993.
一家名為蓋洛普的民意調查機構表示，從起源于1993年公眾對執法信任度這一主題的研究來看，人們對執法者的信任程度一直保持在相對平穩的態度。
But according to data collected by Harris, another polling group, the share of both whites and blacks who believe that African Americans are discriminated against by the police has risen markedly between 1969 and 2014.
但是，根據另一家民意調查公司哈里斯收集得到的數據來看，認為警察歧視非洲裔美國人的白人和黑人比例在1969到2014年間顯著上升。
Baltimore Police Department’s officer shortage led it to Puerto Rico in search of fresh faces.
巴爾的摩警察局官員短缺使得他們不得不去波多黎各尋找新鮮面孔。
The department also mulled relaxing its stance on past marijuana use.
該部門還考慮放松其過去對使用大麻的立場。
Chicago has cut its minimum age requirement for its police academy from 25 to 21.
芝加哥已將其警察學院的最低年齡要求從25降至21歲。
Several departments have lowered educational requirements for recruits.
幾個部門降低了對新兵的教育要求。
If President-elect Trump follows through on his promises to beef up military and infrastructure spending, the plight of police departments might worsen, worries Mr Lim.
利姆先生擔心，如果新晉總統特朗普兌現了自己的承諾，加強軍事和基礎設施支出，警察部門的困境可能惡化。
The armed and police forces tend to compete for applicants.
軍隊與警察系統常爭奪申請者。
If more jobs become available in industry and construction, putting on a badge might become even less appealing to young workers.
如果在工業和建筑業中有更多的工作機會，成為警察可能對年輕人來說，就不再那么有吸引力了。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
