"We just said 'hands up, don’t shoot,' and they just started shooting!"
“我们就只说了句‘我们都把手举起来了,别开枪’,他们就开始开枪了!”
A police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, had shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown.
密苏里州弗格森的一名警察开枪打死了一名手无寸铁的黑人少年迈克尔·布朗。
Afterwards, the community’s protests were met by heavily militarized police,
随后,警察们全副武装地站到了当地的抗议人群面前,
who pointed sniper rifles at them as they marched.
抗议人群一往前走,他们就拿狙击步枪对准他们。
"Tear gas and armored tanks became a familiar sight in Ferguson, Missouri."
在密苏里州弗格森,催泪瓦斯和装甲坦克都已经成了常见的景象。”
"The police departments around the country have been getting a lot of this type of equipment..."
“全国各地的警察部门都拿到了很多这种级别的武器……”
President Obama responded with an executive order curbing the 1033 Program.
面对这样的形式,奥巴马总统发布了一道限制1033计划继续扩充的行政令。
"We’ve seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like there’s an occupying force,
“我们看到,军事化的装备有时会给大家一种警察不再是社区的一份子,
as opposed to a force that’s part of the community that’s protecting them and serving them."
不再是保护社区,服务社区的一支力量,而是一支占领军的感觉。”
Two years later, President Trump’s administration reversed that.
两年后,特朗普政府撤销了奥巴马的行政令。
"We will not put superficial concerns above public safety."
“我们不会让肤浅的顾虑凌驾于公共安全之上。”
But by that point, the 1033 Program had become a lot less important anyway.
不过,截至当时,1033计划已经远没有以前重要了。
This chart shows that by 2016, most MRAPs loaned out by the military went to smaller police departments.
就这张图来看,到2016年,军方借出的大多数MRAP都流向了规模较小的警察部门。
That means when larger cities today have MRAPs and other military gear, it’s often because they’ve bought it themselves.
这就意味着,那些拥有MRAP及其他武器的大城市,他们的武器通常都是他们自己买的。
And that’s because police having military gear and weapons no longer depends on any one government program.
这是因为,警察拥有军事装备和武器已经不再是某一个政府项目带来的结果,
It’s now a part of how police see themselves.
而是警察们对自己的定位的结果。
"The thing that I think is really important is, with that equipment comes a certain mentality."
“我认为,重要的是,那些装备会激发出一种心态。”
This is Arthur Rizer.
这位是亚瑟·里泽。
He’s a former military police officer, former civilian police officer, and now studies police militarization.
前宪兵军官,前文职警官,他最近又开始研究警察军事化问题了。
A big part of his research is about that mentality.
他的研究有很大一部分都跟那种心态有关。
And he shared a poll he did of police officers with us.
他跟我们分享了他就警察展开的一项民意调查。
"I asked officers, you know, 'do you have any problem with police officers routinely on patrol,
“我就问接受调查的警官们,‘你们对警察携带军用级别的装备,
carrying military-grade equipment, or dressing in military type of uniforms?'
或者穿着军装例行巡逻有意见吗?
And the vast majority of those officers told me, 'no, I have no problem with that.'
他们中的绝大多数人的回答都是,‘没有,我对这么巡逻没意见。’
And then the second question I asked is,
我问的第二个问题是,
'do you think it changes the way that officers feel about themselves and their role in policing?'
“你觉得这(么巡逻)会改变警察对自己的看法和对自己在治安中扮演的角色的看法吗?”
And the vast majority officers, again, said "yes."
绝大多数警官的回答都是“会”。
And what they said was, it makes them more aggressive, more assertive, and it can make them more violent.
他们的说法是,那样巡逻会让他们更强势,更武断,还有可能让他们变得更暴力。
And then finally, I asked them, 'how do you think the public perceives you?'
最后,我又问他们,‘你觉得公众对你们是怎么看的?’
And the vast majority said, "it scares them."
绝大多数人的回答都是,“他们会觉得害怕。”
They know that it scares the public.
可见,他们知道带着武器巡逻会吓坏公众。
They know that it makes them more aggressive or more assertive.
他们也知道那么做会让他们更强势,更武断。
And that can be dangerous.
还可能很危险。
But they don't seem to care."
但他们似乎并不关心这一点。”
There are definitely times when it's been more clearly beneficial for the police to have this equipment.
当然,有些时候,拥有这种装备对警方是有明显的好处的。
For example, during the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016,
比如,2016年Pulse夜总会枪击案发生时,
Orlando police used an armored military vehicle to stop the shooter.
奥兰多警方就用装甲车控制住了枪手。
But those moments tend to be the exception.
问题是,这样的时刻往往都是个例。
Today, this equipment is still mostly used by SWAT teams for executing drug-related search warrants.
如今,这一装备依然主要是特警部队执行缉毒搜查任务时才会使用。
And more than half of those are still no-knock warrants,
而且,有一半以上的搜查任务都是强制搜查,
the kind that Louisville police were executing when they killed Breonna Taylor.
就是路易斯维尔警方击毙布雷娜·泰勒时执行的那种搜查。
And in the case of the Ferguson protests, the Department of Justice found that the heavily militarized presence
就弗格森案抗议事件而言,司法部发现,警方的高度军事化
"served to escalate rather than de-escalate the overall situation."
“不仅没能平息,反而加剧了整个事态。”
The military, and the police, are supposed to serve different purposes.
军队和警察本应各司其职。
A military protects an “us" from a "them."
军队本应保护“我们”不受“他们”的伤害。
A police officer is supposed to be part of the "us."
警察则应该是“我们”中间的一份子。
But when police think of themselves as soldiers, that can change.
但当警察将自己视为士兵时,他们和我们的关系就会发生转变。
"What is a police officer going to do with an assault rifle when he's facing a protest?
“一名警察面临的是一堆抗议人群的时候,他会拿突击步枪做什么?
You know, seriously, when you give someone a hammer,
就,说真的,如果你给了某个人一个锤子,
why are you surprised that everything looks like a nail to them?"
结果什么在他眼里都变成了钉子,你有什么好觉得奇怪的?”