VOA慢速英語：芝加哥致力于減少槍支暴力

Chicago Working to Reduce Gun Violence

芝加哥致力于減少槍支暴力

Gun violence is an issue in Chicago, Illinois, America's third largest city.

槍支暴力是美國第三大城市伊利諾伊州芝加哥市面臨的一項難題。

The Chicago Tribune reported that 61 people were shot in the city during the long Christmas holiday weekend. Eleven of those shot died, the newspaper said. The holiday weekend ended Monday night.

《芝加哥論壇報》報道稱，在這次圣誕周末假期，該市有61人被槍擊，其中11人死亡。這次周末假期于周一晚上結(jié)束。

The Tribune said the attacks brought the total number of shootings for 2016 to more than 4,300. The number killed in shootings this year reached 770, it said.

《芝加哥論壇報》表示，這些襲擊使得2016年的槍擊總數(shù)達到4300多次。該報稱今年被槍殺的人數(shù)達到了770人。

In 2015, 2,989 people were shot and 492 were killed in gun violence.

在2015年，芝加哥有2989人被槍擊，其中492人被槍殺。

Chicago is not the only city in the United States to report an increase in shootings and murders.

芝加哥并非美國唯一一個報告槍擊和謀殺案激增的城市。

The Brennan Center for Justice is a non-profit research group with ties to New York University's Law School. It reported last week that the murder rate for 2016 in America's 30 largest cities is expected to be 14 percent higher than the rate last year.

布倫南司法中心是一家同紐約大學法學院存在關(guān)聯(lián)的的非營利性研究組織。該組織上周報告稱，2016年美國30個最大城市的謀殺率預計比去年高出14%。

The center blames the increase on fewer police officers working in some cities, as well as poverty and increased gang violence. But it said that two large cities -- Baltimore and Washington D.C. -- have fewer murders this year than in 2015.

該中心將這一增長歸咎于一些城市在職警察人數(shù)減少，以及貧困和幫派暴力增加。但是該中心表示，今年巴爾的摩和華盛頓特區(qū)這兩大城市的謀殺率低于2015年。

Eddie Johnson is Chicago's Police Superintendent. He said 90 percent of those killed in his city over Christmas weekend had ties to gangs, criminal histories or had been identified as potential offenders or victims.

埃迪·約翰遜(Eddie Johnson)是芝加哥市警察局長。他說，芝加哥市這個圣誕周末被槍殺的人之中，有90%的人與幫派、犯罪史有關(guān)，或者是被認定為潛在罪犯或受害者。

Johnson urged politicians to increase sentences for people found guilty of gun crimes.

約翰遜督促政治家提高對被判犯有槍支罪者的刑期。

"If you pick up a gun and shoot somebody, you should go to prison, period, that's the end of the story," he said.

他說，“如果你槍擊了別人，你就該進監(jiān)獄，就是這樣，這就是結(jié)局。”

"Some people want to give them a pass for it. I don't," he added.

他補充說，“有人想要給他們這個進監(jiān)獄的機會，我不想。”

Chicago is working to add police officers who more closely represent the ethnicity and races of city residents.

芝加哥市正在努力增加最能代表該市居民種族和民族的警務人員。

Rahm Emanuel is mayor of Chicago. He said, "Officers come together from different backgrounds, different cultures, and different faiths for a common cause: to serve and protect the people of the City of Chicago. And this whole city will be behind our officers, rooting for their success."

拉姆·伊曼紐爾(Rahm Emanuel)是芝加哥市的市長。他說，“來自不同的背景、文化和信仰的警務人員們都是為了一項共同的事業(yè)，那就是服務和保護芝加哥人民。我們整個城市都會站在警務人員身后為他們加油。”

Gary Slutkin is founder of a group called Cure Violence. His group has trained people to work in their communities to persuade people to choose non-violent ways of dealing with conflicts.

蓋瑞·斯盧特金(Gary Slutkin)是一家名為治愈暴力的組織的創(chuàng)始人。該組織已經(jīng)培訓人們在自己的社區(qū)工作，說服人們以非暴力手段處理沖突。

Slutkin said the workers often knew when a young person was planning a violent act just by living nearby. Because they have credibility with their neighbors, they often have more influence than police, or even parents, he said.

斯盧特金表示，當周邊年輕人計劃暴力行為時這些員工往往都會知曉。因為他們在鄰里中很有公信力，他們往往比警察、甚至是父母都更具影響力。

Often the "issue" with another young person was not that big a deal -- maybe someone spoke to his girlfriend or owes him money. His workers, Slutkin said, could persuade young people that their problem with another person was not worth a violent response.

通常年輕人與其他年輕人的問題并非什么大問題，可能是某人跟他女朋友說話了，或是欠他錢。斯盧特金表示，他的員工可以說服年輕人，他們與別人的矛盾并不值得付諸于暴力。

"Sometimes it is simply pointing out that if you go ahead and do it (shoot somebody), people are going to be looking for pay back against you or you might be spending 20 years or more in prison," Slutkin said.

斯盧特金說，“有時候只需要指出，你槍擊別人，人們就會伺機報復你，或者你可能得在牢里呆上20年或更久。”

But he said a loss of government assistance has left all but one city neighborhood without the program this year. He believes the lost funding and higher shooting rates are related.

但他表示，今年(該組織)失去了政府支持，這使得只有一個城市社區(qū)沒有遇到這類問題。他認為，失去資助和槍擊率提高存在關(guān)聯(lián)。

Slutkin is a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois' School of Public Health. He said his program uses policies developed by health experts to deal with disease. It works, he said, because violence can spread just like diseases such as AIDS or tuberculosis.

斯盧特金是伊利諾伊大學公共衛(wèi)生學院的一位流行病學教授。他說，他的這個項目采用了衛(wèi)生專家制定的用于解決疾病問題的政策。這種手段行之有效，因為暴力也會像艾滋病或結(jié)核病這類疾病一樣傳播。

His Cure Violence Program operates in 25 U.S. cities, as well as in other countries, such as South Africa, Honduras, Mexico, and prisons in Britain.

他的治療暴力項目在25個美國城市，還有南非、洪都拉斯、墨西哥等國家，以及英國監(jiān)獄中運作。

I'm Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·湯姆森報道。