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Chicago Working to Reduce Gun Violence

时间:2017-01-02 15:56:06

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Chicago Working to Reduce Gun Violence

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Eddie Johnson is Chicago’s Police Superintendent1. 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 offenders2 or victims.

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

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

“Some people want to give them a pass for it. I don’t,” he added.

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

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.”

Gary Slutkin is founder3 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 dealing4 with conflicts.

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.

Often the “issue” with another young person was not that big a deal -- maybe someone spoke5 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.

“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.

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.

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 tuberculosis6.

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.

Words in This Story

gang - n. a group of criminals

potential - adj. capable of becoming real

pass - n. let people go on without penalty7

faith - n. religious beliefs

root - v. to express or show support for someone

credibility - n. the quality of being believed or accepted as true, real, or honest

epidemiology - n. the study of how disease spreads and can be controlled


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 superintendent vsTwV     
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
参考例句:
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
2 offenders dee5aee0bcfb96f370137cdbb4b5cc8d     
n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 );犯规者;罪犯;妨害…的人(或事物)
参考例句:
  • Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
  • Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。
3 Founder wigxF     
n.创始者,缔造者
参考例句:
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
4 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
5 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
6 tuberculosis bprym     
n.结核病,肺结核
参考例句:
  • People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
  • Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。
7 penalty LSQzm     
n.处罚,刑罚,罚款
参考例句:
  • If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球,你将受到处罚。
  • One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

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