美国警察"正当杀人"危机

“I can’t breathe” — the dying words of Eric Garner, who was killed in a police chokehold in July — has become a nationAl rallying cry.

“我无法呼吸”，这是今年7月被一名美国警察锁喉杀死的埃里克•加纳(Eric Garner)临死前说过的话。它已成为近日美国各种全国集会上的一个口号。

Across the US, those words appear on protesters’ banners. They also serve as a metaphor for a justice system that is on the cusp of forfeiting its legitimacy. The decay extends far wider than the “justifiable homicide” that describes the 400 or more deaths every year at the hands of US law enforcement officers.

这句话出现在美国各地抗议者的标语上。它还是一个正丧失合法性的司法体系的象征。这个体系的腐朽远远不止于“正当杀人”——每年死于美国执法警察“正当杀人”的有400人甚至更多。

Antiquated grand jury hearings, grossly overcrowded prisons, the militarisation of police equipment, overambitious US attorneys — all feed into a larger crisis of US justice. In the wake of the decisions not to prosecute officers in the Ferguson and Staten Island killings, President Barack Obama has called for a “national conversation” to rebuild trust in local police forces. That is a bare minimum. Mr Obama should launch a root-and-branch review of a system that needs saving from itself.

陈旧的大陪审团听证会体系、极度拥挤的监狱、警用装备的军事化、野心过大的美国律师，这些都造成了美国司法体系的更大危机。在大陪审团决定不起诉弗格森市和斯塔滕岛杀人案中的警察后，美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)呼吁展开“全国性对话”，以重建民众对地方警察力量的信任。这只是最起码的。奥巴马应彻底重新评估这个亟需自救的体系。

The crisis extends beyond race. Protesters have understandably focused on the fact that both men — Garner and Michael Brown — were African-American and that their police killers were white. It is undeniable that black Americans are disproportionately more likely than other ethnic groups to be the victims of police shootings, to go to jail for crimes on which others are fined and to be sentenced to death row.

此次危机超越了种族问题。确实，加纳和迈克尔•布朗(Michael Brown)两人都是非洲裔美国人，而杀死他们的警察都是白人，抗议者聚焦于种族是合情合理的。不可否认，相对于其他族裔人群，美国黑人更有可能成为警方枪击的牺牲品，更有可能入狱（同样的罪名，其他种族的人可能只会被罚款），甚至更有可能被判死刑。

There is a huge imbalance in the US penal system. All Americans shouldbe concerned. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than half of the 426 “justifiable homicides” that occurred in 2012 were white. By comparison there were zero police killings in neighbouring Canada that year. US law enforcement agencies conduct roughly 50,000 Swat raids on private homes each year, mostly in search of drugs. These cover every racial group.

但美国刑罚体系严重失衡，这是所有美国人都应关心的。根据联邦调查局(FBI)的数据，在2012年的426起“正当杀人”案中，有超过一半的被杀者为白人。相比之下，在邻国加拿大，当年未发生一起警察杀人事件。美国执法机构每年大约有5万起特警搜查私人住宅的事件，多数是搜查毒品。这些涉及所有种族。

Using armoured personnel carriers and stun grenades, these operations could as well be taking place in Baghdad during the height of the Iraq insurgency. Often they result in deaths. Invariably they spread terror.

这些行动动用装甲运兵车和震撼手榴弹，现场情形简直堪比伊拉克暴乱最严重时期的巴格达街头。这些行动常常导致人员死亡，无一例外地导致恐惧蔓延。

It would be a travesty were Mr Obama’s plea for dialogue to be monopolised by race. That would imply the US justice system was basically sound except for its racial bias. The latter is a window on a far larger problem. Put simply, America’s civilian police culture is turning paramilitary.

如果奥巴马所呼吁的对话只集中于种族问题，那么这将是一种对事实的歪曲。这将暗示，除了种族偏见以外，美国司法体系基本上还是良好的。种族偏见给我们提供了一个发现更严重问题的机会。简单来讲，美国的平民警察文化正走向准军事化。

In the past five years, Washington has transferred $18bn worth of Pentagon equipment to law enforcement agencies — in most cases without training on how to use it. It is increasingly common to see officers dressed in fatigues like soldiers in a conflict zone. There are few instances in which an officer who kills an unarmed civilian can be prosecuted, or even removed from his job.

过去5年，美国政府将价值180亿美元的国防部装备移交给执法部门，但在多数情况下没有培训他们如何使用。人们越来越经常看到，像士兵一样身穿迷彩服的警察出现在冲突地区。杀害手无寸铁的平民的警察几乎没有一个被起诉，甚至都不会被撤职。

Requiring them to wear body cameras — as Mr Obama is now urging — only addresses part of the problem, which extends to the judicial system itself. Garner’s death was captured on an iPhone video. It is hard to watch it and conclude that this was anything other than an unjustifiable homicide. Yet the officer who choked him to death will not be prosecuted.

要求警察随身配备摄像机（正如奥巴马现在敦促的那样）只会解决一部分问题，更大的问题延伸到了司法体系本身。一段iPhone视频记录下了加纳的死。看完后，我们很难做出结论说这不是一起非正当杀人事件。然而勒死他的那名警察将不会被起诉。

Mr Obama has asked the Department of Justice to review both grand jury decisions under federal civil rights law. But the burden of proof is very high. He has also called for more police training. These are minor steps. A far larger national inquiry is urgently needed. The police are there to serve the public, not the other way round. In the US — of all countries — this should never be forgotten.

奥巴马已要求司法部根据联邦民权法评估大陪审团的这两项裁决。但举证很难。他还呼吁展开更多警员培训。这些都是次要的。现在亟需一项范围更大的全国性调查。警察的责任是为公众服务，而不是反过来。在本该是所有国家表率的美国，这点永远不应被忘记。