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How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts
警察工会如何变成了改革路上的巨型拦路虎
Half a decade after a spate of officer-involved deaths inspired widespread protest,
五年前，接二连三的事涉警方的死亡事件一度引起了民众的广泛抗议，
many police unions are digging in to defend members.
五年后，许多警方依然选择了坚决保护自己的队员。
By Noam Scheiber, Farah Stockman and J. David Goodman
文/诺姆·舍贝尔，法拉赫·斯托克曼，J.大卫·古德曼
Over the past five years, as demands for reform have mounted
过去五年来，密苏里州弗格森、（马里兰州）巴尔的摩，
in the aftermath of police violence in cities like Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore and Minneapolis,
还有最近的（明尼苏达州）明尼阿波利斯多地暴发警察暴力事件后，改革的呼声已经日益高涨，
police unions have emerged as one of the most significant roadblocks to change.
警方却化身成了改革路上的最大障碍。
The greater the political pressure for reform, the more defiant the unions often are in resisting it—
改革的政治压力越大，警察工会抵制改革的力度通常也越大——
with few city officials, including liberal leaders, able to overcome their opposition.
大到鲜有城市官员能够压制住他们的反抗，就连自由派领导人也不例外。
They aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct,
队员被指控行为不端时，他们就大肆保护被控队员的权利，
often in arbitration hearings that they have battled to keep behind closed doors.
每每以秘密举行仲裁听证的方式将事态控制下来。
And they have also been remarkably effective at fending off broader change,
不仅如此，他们利用手中的政治势力和影响力破坏强化问责机制的努力，
using their political clout and influence to derail efforts to increase accountability.
抵制全面改革也是十分的得心应手。
While rates of union membership have dropped by half nationally since the early 1980s, to 10 percent,
尽管如今整个国家警察工会会员率已经下降到了10%——仅为80年代的一半数额，
higher membership rates among police unions give them resources they can spend on campaigns and litigation to block reform.
更高的会员率却意味着警察通过活动及诉讼阻止改革的资源就越多。
A single New York City police union has spent more than $1 million on state and local races since 2014.
自2014年以来，纽约市一个警察工会在州和地方竞选上花费的资金就多达100万美元不止。
In St. Louis, when Kim Gardner was elected the top prosecutor four years ago,
四年前当选圣路易斯最高检察官时，
she set out to rein in the city's high rate of police violence.
金·加德纳就已立即着手约束该市警察暴力事件频发的问题。
But after she proposed a unit within the prosecutor's office that would independently investigate misconduct,
就在她提议在检察官办公室内成立一个独立调查警察不当行为的单位后，
she ran into the powerful local police union.
她便见识到了当地警察工会实力何等雄厚。
The union pressured lawmakers to set aside the proposal,
工会一方面向当地立法的议员施压，逼迫他们搁置加德纳的提议，
which many supported but then never brought to a vote.
议员们原本很多都对加德纳的提议持支持态度，迫于工会压力，后来都没能付诸表决。
Around the same time, a lawyer for the union waged a legal fight
另一方面，（当地警察）工会的一名律师也挑起了一场官司，
to limit the ability of the prosecutor's office to investigate police misconduct.
企图限制检察官办公室调查警察不当行为的权力。
The following year, a leader of the union said Ms. Gardner should be removed "by force or by choice."
次年，工会某领导甚至表示，“主动也好，被动也好”都应该撤去加德纳的职务。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
