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To visit is to get a sense of how it works. On September 4th those in the room included three district commanders; the Suffolk County district attorney, Kevin Hayden;
參觀是為了了解它是如何運作的。9月4日，會議室里有三名地區指揮官、薩福克縣地方檢察官凱文·海登(Kevin Hayden)、
senior probation officers; staff from various crime-focused NGOs; several churchmen; a few members of the public; Professor Winship; and your correspondent.
高級緩刑官、來自各個聚焦犯罪的非政府組織的工作人員、幾名教士、幾名公眾、溫希普教授以及記者。
Over the course of an hour the officials delivered reports on crime (or the lack of it) during the past week, and took questions.
在一個小時的時間里，官員們提交了過去一周的犯罪（或零犯罪）報告，并回答了問題。
How does having meetings reduce violence? The explanation, argues Professor Winship, lies in the way they have changed policing.
開會如何減少暴力？溫希普教授認為，原因在于他們改變了警務方式。
Thirty years ago Boston's police department worked much as many American departments still do—targeting entire neighbourhoods indiscriminately.
三十年前，波士頓警察局的工作方式與許多美國警察局現在的工作方式一樣——不分青紅皂白地針對整個街區。
In one noticeable incident, in 1995, a young black officer was viciously beaten by his own colleagues who mistook him for a suspect during a foot chase.
1995年發生了一起引人注目的事件，一名年輕的黑人警官在一次徒步追捕中被自己的同事誤認為嫌疑犯而遭到惡毒毆打。
Afterwards, when his assailants realised their mistake, he was abandoned in the street. The officers responsible covered up their crime.
之后，當襲擊者意識到他們的錯誤時，他被遺棄在街上。負責的警官掩蓋了他們的罪行。
That culture has changed. Today the officer once attacked by his colleagues, Michael Cox, is the city's police commissioner. The police department is far more trusted.
這種文化已經改變。如今，曾經遭到同事襲擊的警官邁克爾·考克斯(Michael Cox)已成為波士頓的警察局長。警察局更加值得信賴。
As Mr Cox puts it, "Through that trust, we're able to do our jobs better…we're not out there like 30 years ago, just stopping and frisking kids, you know, and hoping that we come up with a gun."
正如考克斯先生所說，“通過這種信任，我們能夠更好地完成工作……我們不再像30年前那樣，只是攔截和搜查孩子，希望我們能拿出槍。”
A small number of young men commit an enormous share of all violent crime, he says.
他說，少數年輕人犯下了絕大部分暴力犯罪。
The important thing is to know who those young men are, and what they are arguing about, including on their social media.
重要的是要知道這些年輕人是誰，他們在爭論什么，包括他們在社交媒體上爭論什么。
One of the more prominent community bodies that attends the meetings is Roca, a "violence-interruption" group that works with nearly 300 young men (and a few women) in Boston who have been identified as especially likely to get involved in violence.
參加會議的比較著名的社區機構之一是Roca，這是一個“暴力干預”組織，與波士頓近300名被認為特別有可能參與暴力的年輕男性（和一些女性）合作。
Their goal is to persuade these youngsters to change their ways, using cognitive behavioural therapy and offers of training and job placements.
他們的目標是說服這些年輕人改變自己的行為方式，使用認知行為療法并提供培訓和就業機會。
Carl Miranda, the director of Roca's Boston office, describes how young men in a gang are put under intense emotional pressure to "strap up" and "spin the block" (that is, to take part in a drive-by shooting) in response to slights.
Roca波士頓辦事處主任卡爾·米蘭達(Carl Miranda)描述了幫派中的年輕人如何承受巨大的情感壓力，以“綁架”和“駕車射擊”來回應輕視。
With help, he says, they can learn to "interrupt those cycles". Such groups exist all over America.
他說，在幫助下，他們可以學會“中斷這些循環”。這樣的團體遍布美國。
Indeed, funding for them has exploded since the surge of violence after the murder of George Floydin Minneapolis in 2020.
事實上，自2020年喬治·弗洛伊德(George Floydin)在明尼阿波利斯被謀殺后暴力事件激增以來，對這些團體的資助激增。
Yet rarely do they work as closely with police as they do in Boston.
然而，他們很少像在波士頓那樣與警方密切合作。
In many cities, violence-interruption groups avoid interacting with police at all, because cops are so hated that it would undermine their ability to reach young gang members.
在許多城市，暴力干預團體完全避免與警察互動，因為警察是如此令人討厭，這會削弱他們接觸年輕幫派成員的能力。
What this adds up to is a criminal-justice system that works preventively.
這加起來就是一個預防性的刑事司法系統。
As Mr Hayden, the district attorney, puts it, to change the behaviour of violent people, you need to be able to offer them a choice: get help, or get locked up.
正如地方檢察官海登先生所說，要改變暴力行為者的行為，你需要能夠為他們提供一個選擇：尋求幫助，或被關起來。
The help part is as important as the locking up. "If you don't have a real carrot then it's all a waste of breath," he says.
幫助與關押同樣重要。“如果你沒有真正的誘餌，那么一切都是浪費口舌，”他說。
His chief of staff is a former social worker; and social workers operate in police stations.
他的參謀長曾是一名社會工作者；社會工作者在警察局工作。
Can such lessons spread elsewhere? It would probably be hard to recreate what Boston has done.
這樣的教訓能傳播到其他地方嗎？波士頓所取得的成就可能很難復制。
Since the 1990s, when the idea of a "Boston Miracle" first gained traction, hundreds of American police departments have visited the city to learn.
自20世紀90年代“波士頓奇跡”的概念首次獲得關注以來，數百個美國警察局已到訪該市學習。
Robert Sampson, another Harvard professor, argues that even in the roughest parts of black Boston, "you do not find the same deep level of cynicism towards the law and towards institutions that you find in, for example, the South Side of Chicago."
另一位哈佛大學教授羅伯特·桑普森(Robert Sampson)認為，即使在黑人聚居地波士頓最艱苦的地區，“你也不會發現像芝加哥南區那樣對法律和機構抱有如此深切的憤世嫉俗態度。”
Boston's police have not shot an unarmed person in two decades. Nor have they suffered scandals like those that have hit police departments in Chicago or Baltimore.
二十年來，波士頓警察從未槍殺過手無寸鐵的人。他們也沒有遭遇過芝加哥或巴爾的摩警察局那樣的丑聞。
Yet there is no alternative but to try. "The more officers actually go and talk to the community and hear from them, the more that they feel better about their job," says Mr Cox.
然而，除了嘗試，別無選擇。 “警察越是真正地去社區交流，聽取他們的意見，他們就越是對自己的工作感到滿意，”考克斯先生說道。
Police officers who feel valued solve more crime. It is more like ending a bitter civil war than tweaking government policy.
感到自己受到重視的警察會破獲更多犯罪案件。這更像是結束一場激烈的內戰，而不是調整政府政策。
Cops have to remember that they got into the job to help, and that even places with very high crime rates are home to good people and can improve.
警察必須記住，他們從事這份工作是為了幫助別人，即使是犯罪率很高的地方，也有好人的家園，可以改善。
As Captain Hosein argues, "Police with dignity and everything comes together."
正如侯賽因上尉所說，“有尊嚴的警察，一切都會好起來。”
