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  3. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck’s tenure has helped answer questions that lingered af

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck’s tenure has helped answer questions that lingered af

游客2025-03-30  2
问题    LAPD Chief Charlie Beck’s tenure has helped answer questions that lingered after the Rampart consent decree ended and outsider Chief William J. Bratton stepped down: Has L.A.’s policing culture permanently changed? Or with outsider chiefs and federal monitors gone, will the Los Angeles Police Department return to its brutal, secretive and racially-tinged past?
   A department veteran who, under Bratton’s tutelage, became a true believer in data, transparency and change, Beck helped instill a more open, reform-oriented culture. He was successful in part because he’s smart and his heart was in the right place, but also because he is old-school LAPD, son of a cop, sibling to and father of cops. His embrace of departmental reform in the post-Rampart era was a strong signal to the rank-and-file, to the city’s political leaders and to communities that often suffered brutal policing tactics that the new thinking and new practices were there to stay.
   Beck announced Friday that he would step down in June, before the end of his second and final five-year term.
   Even though he is not elected, he is a savvy politician who correctly read what the mayor, the Police Commission and the people of Los Angeles wanted from him and what to an extent he was able to deliver: low crime, no scandals, little controversy. He became adept at the regular radio interview and the soundbite on immigration enforcement and criminal justice reform.
   At a time of national awakening and outrage over police shootings of unarmed African American men and boys, Beck and the LAPD often looked good in comparison, at least for a while.
   But there have been troubling exceptions. Just days after a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Montana. LAPD officers shot another unarmed African American man, Ezell Ford, in Los Angeles. Beck concluded that the shooting was justified despite his police commission’s finding to the contrary. His action, and District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s decision a year ago not to prosecute—along with numerous other officer-involved shootings—have exacerbated tension between the department and many of the communities it patrols.
   Beck’s decision was to respond to an increase in violent crime in South Los Angeles with increased patrols and what amounts to an L.A.-style stop-and-frisk policy (automobile stops for arguably pretextual reasons such as broken taillights, in order to search for weapons).
   Did the tactic work? The violence eventually abated, but not before police reopened old wounds and reinvigorated anti-police sentiment in communities that felt over-patroled. Activists’ calls for Beck’s firing became a common feature at weekly commission meetings.
   Meanwhile, although Los Angeles continues to enjoy historically low crime rates, the declines began a slight but troubling reverse in 2015. The scandal-free ledger was tainted by the 2013 rampage of fired officer Christopher Dorner, who posted a manifesto of charges against the department, then killed four people and wounded three others before dying as police closed in on him. LAPD officers wounded three innocent bystanders in their sometimes frenetic quest to track down Dorner. There was a scandal of another sort when police cadets, aided by an officer, stole cruisers and other equipment. Their exploits went undetected for weeks.
   Beck earns high marks for managing an inherent tension faced in recent decades by every LAPD chief. In a city in which public safety accounts for more than 80% of the city budget, he faced strong pressure in City Hall and many communities to economize. At the same time, many of the same critics want him to provide better patrols in lower-crime parts of the city while still being able to respond in force to spates of violence in high-crime communities, and while employing a more community-oriented approach to policing citywide. Accomplishing all of those goals simultaneously is simply not possible.
   Beck is the fourth LAPD chief to be appointed under a key change that followed the 1992 riots, which were sparked by acquittals of officers in the brutal beating of African American motorist Rodney King. After decades in which chiefs could retain their jobs virtually for life, leaders of the department are now appointed to a single five-year term and can be appointed to a second—but no more. Chiefs Willie Williams and Bernard Parks were denied second terms. Bratton won a second but left early for other opportunities. Beck’s June departure date leaves plenty of time for the commission and Mayor Eric Garcetti to consider a host of would-be replacements among the younger brass whom Beck has mentored. [br] Which of the following statements is NOT true?
选项 A、Charlie Beck’s protecting LAPD officers aggravated the relationship between the department and the communities.
B、Charlie Beck’s policy of increasing patrols and the stop-and-frisk policy have been controversial among the local people.
C、Christopher Dorner was angry with the LAPD and abreacted his dissatisfaction by killing innocent people.
D、The LAPD will return to a brutal, secretive, and racially-tinged past after Chiefs Willie Williams and Bernard Parks’ retirement.
答案 D
解析 本题为事实细节题。定位至文章第六段最后两句可知，尽管与警方调查委员会的调查结果相悖，贝克仍将枪击事件定性为合理的，他的这种行为加剧了警局与其巡逻的许多社区之间的紧张关系。由此可知，A项说法是正确的。根据第八段可知，贝克加强巡逻的策略导致暴力事件最终有所减弱，但警方重新挑起旧伤，在过度控制的社区中重新激起了反对警方的情绪。激进分子要求解雇贝克是每周委员会会议的共同特征。由此可知，B项说法正确。根据第九段可知，克里斯托弗-多纳发布了针对该警局的指控宣言，在死亡前，他杀死了四人，打伤三人，由此可知，C项说法正确。根据第二段可知，贝克带来了更为开放的、以改革为导向的文化，洛杉矶警察局并不会回归其残酷、遮遮掩掩以及带有种族歧视的过去。由此可知，D项说法不正确。因此本题选D。
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