[2008.05.17] The mystery of violence 暴力之谜

Urban crime
城市犯罪
The mystery of violence
暴力之谜

May 15th 2008 | CHICAGO
From The Economist print edition

Chicago’s continuing fight against gangs and guns
芝加哥不停地与黑帮和枪支作斗争

APRIL was a cruel and bloody month in Chicago. “We want futures, not funerals!” students shouted at a rally on April 1st. But more funerals followed. The most violent weekend, April 18th-20th, saw no few than 36 shootings—15 of them gang-related—and nine deaths. As Chicago prepares for the summer, when violence usually tends to rise, two questions linger: what has caused this outburst, and what can be done about it?
在 芝加哥，四月是残酷血腥的一月。“我们要未来，而不是葬礼！”学生们在四月一号的一次集会中这样喊到。然而更多的葬礼接踵而来。四月十八日到四月二十日这 个最暴力的周末，发生了不少于三十六起枪击案-其中十五起与黑帮有关-并导致九人死亡。芝加哥即将迎来夏天，而暴力通常随之上升。这里有两个问题：什么导 致了暴力行为的暴发？我们能对此做些什么？

Some believe the shootings were sparked by warmer weather; others blame mounting economic hardship. But searching for a precise reason is pointless. In many neighbourhoods across America, the threat of violence hangs in the air like humidity, sometimes bursting into a deluge. Overall crime rates are far lower than in the early 1990s. But America had 37% more gang-related murders in 2006 than in 2000, according to FBI reports. Half of Chicago’s murders in 2006 were linked to gangs.
有些人认为暴力是由炎热的天气引发的，其他则认为日益严峻的经济困 顿导致了种种暴行。但是探究具体原因毫无意义。在美国的许多地区，暴力的威胁无处不在，有时甚至泛滥成灾。现在总体犯罪率要远远低于九十年代初期。但是据 联邦调查局（FBI）报告，2006年里与黑帮相关的谋杀与2000年相比上升了37%。2006年，芝加哥的一半谋杀与黑帮有关。

The more important question is whether cities have learned how to prevent further outbursts. Chicago’s police now use an array of tactics, from targeting “hot spots” to a community-policing programme. Richard Daley, Chicago’s mayor, has long sought to reform gun laws and work more closely with federal officials to dismantle gangs’ financial operations.
更 紧迫的一个问题是，这些城市是否学会如何应对暴力的进一步爆发？芝加哥警方现在了采取一系列措施，包括对犯罪高发地区进行盯点和开展社区治安项目。芝加哥 市长Richard Daley长期以来一直试图改革枪支法律，并且与联邦人员紧密合作，希望能够切断黑帮的经济来源。

April’s violence has inspired new plans, some more helpful than others. The ineffectual governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, announced on May 6th a $150m scheme for which there is no $150m. Chicago’s police chief intends to make residents feel safer by sending out SWAT teams in full battle gear. More promisingly, Mr Daley wants to keep pools and parks open late and offer more teenagers summer jobs. This will help keep more children busy and out of harm. But it will have little effect on the most violent.
四月的暴力促生了新的计划，其中一些有效，另外一些则不然。伊利诺伊州没用的州长Rod Blagojevich在五月六号宣布了一项耗资一亿五千万美无的相关计划，对此却一点钱都拿不出来。芝加哥警察局局长派出全副武装的特种装备与战术小队 以安慰民众。更加让人感到欣慰的是，Daley先生希望延长游泳池和公园的开放时间，给青少年们提供更多夏季工作。这可以使更多的孩子们忙碌起来，从而远 离伤害。但是这种措施对最俱暴力倾向的少年缓解效果并不明显。

Chicago’s muddled response frustrates David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He notes that in the 1990s Boston brought together federal, state and local agencies, community groups, religious leaders and others (including himself) to fight violence. A main feature of the scheme was to locate gang members and tell them that help and services were available, but that violence would be met with severe penalties. If someone was killed, not only would prosecutors pursue the killer, but police would nail other gang members for smaller crimes. This would create an economic disincentive to kill—shooting a rival would badly disrupt gang business. The programme was launched in 1996. Youth murders plummeted. Long-term studies show a two-thirds drop.
芝加哥的混乱应对 让纽约the John Jay College刑事司法专业的David Kennedy感到很沮丧。他注意到，波士顿将联邦，州和当地机关，社区团体，宗教领袖和其他一些人（包括他本人）团结一起共同对扩暴力。计划的最大特点 是定位黑帮成员并且告诉这些人政府会提供一些帮助和服务，但面对暴力一定会严惩不怠。如果一个人被杀，调查人员不仅要追查凶手，还会把其他一些黑帮成员的 小辫子也揪出来。这就产生了对杀人的抑制因素-击杀竞争对手会严重的扰乱帮派生意。这个项目从1996年开始实施。年轻的谋杀犯迅速减少，长期调查显示下 降了三分之二。

Chicago has its own version of this strategy in six police districts, but it has been all but ignored in the current cacophony. A federal initiative called Project Safe Neighbourhoods (PSN) pays for the programme; the federal district attorney directs it. Chicago’s PSN includes tough gun policing, federal prosecutions and—most important, or so researchers found—meetings with former felons to deter them from returning to crime. Over PSN’s first two years, the districts it targeted saw a 37% drop in quarterly homicide rates. The challenge now is to help PSN expand. Chicago’s leaders must use many tools to fight violence. One is right under their noses.
芝加哥的六个警区也有相应 的策略，但在最近的纷纷扰扰中这些策略几乎被无视了。一个叫安全社区项目（PSN）的联邦倡议为这个计划付钱；并且由联邦在该地区的工作人员来领导。芝加 哥的PSN包括严格的枪支政策，联邦调查以及研究人员认为的最重要的一部分，即与以前的重罪犯会面以防止他们重新走到犯罪的道路上。在PSN实施的前两 年，目标地区的季度谋杀犯罪率下降了37%。现在需要的是进一步扩大PSN的应用范围。芝加哥的领导们必须使用多种手段对抗暴力，而其中一个近在眼前。

译者：xsj191 　 http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=11500&extra=page%3D1