London police send flowers to comfort victims

倫敦警方出奇招 破不了案就送花

LúnDūn jǐngfāng chū qízhāo pò bù le àn jiù sònghuā

London police send flowers to comfort victims

倫敦警方正在給那些難以偵破的盜竊案和搶劫案的受害者送花束.警方稱,這一禮物有助于"緩和打擊",但也許隨之而來的還有一張紙條,解釋說警方將由于缺少證據而結案.

Police in London are sending bouquets of flowers to victims of burglaries and muggings---crimes they often have difficulty solving. They claim the gift helps "soften the blow", but it can also be accompanied by a note explaining that officers are closing the case for lack of evidence.

受害者對于這一政策意見不一：有的人說他們覺得"被糊弄了",有的人則稱贊"這個想法很可愛".

The policy has divided opinion among victims---some saying they feel "fobbed off" and others praising the "lovely thought".

自從11月份開始執行這一提議以來,都會區警察局的警察已經分發出約300束花.大多數花束送給了獨居的老年婦女.

Met police officers have given out around 300 bouquets since the initiative began in November. Most have gone to elderly women living alone.

兩周前55歲的莎拉•米勒的家中發生了一起盜竊案,她有兩個筆記本電腦、一臺攝像機和其他值錢物品被盜,第二天警方派了一名犯罪現場調查官過去采集指紋.

Sarah Miller, 55, had two laptops, a camera and other valuables stolen two weeks ago and police sent a crime scenes officer to dust for fingerprints the following day.

當天晚些時候,他們送來了一張卡片,上面寫道："很抱歉你成為犯罪行為的受害者,不幸的是,在這起案件中沒有足夠的證據能讓我們著手,因此你這起案件現在將終止調查."

Later that day, they sent a card saying, 'Sorry you have been a victim of crime, unfortunately in this case there is insufficient evidence to proceed and investigation into your crime that will now be closed.'

第二天,快遞員送來了一束價值40英鎊的花,連同一張價值5英鎊的代金券,可以在下次向捐贈此花束的花商購買鮮花時使用.

The following day, a £40 bouquet of flowers arrived by courier along with a voucher for £5 off future purchases from the florist who donated it.

米勒太太說："收到花很開心,但是用在這上面的心思本來可以用在偵破盜竊案上面的,比如把被盜物品的圖片登在當地報紙上,以求能重新找回失物.我寧愿他們在事發后派一名社區服務警察來安慰我,而不是用一束花把我打發了."

Mrs. Miller said, "It was nice to receive them, but the thought that went into that could have gone into solving the burglary, like putting pictures of the things that were stolen in the local paper in an effort to recover them. I'd rather they'd had sent a community support officer to comfort me after it happened rather than being fobbed off with flowers."

都會區警察局的一名發言人稱,受害者通常把這一禮物看作一個積極的姿態和一種支持.

A Met spokesman said victims usually took the gifts as a positive gesture and as a sign of support.

詞語解釋

盜竊 （dàoqiè） burglary

搶劫 （qiǎngjié） mugging

指紋 （zhǐwén） fingerprint

代金券 （dài jīn quàn） voucher

捐贈 （juānzèng） donate

(Source: myechinese.com)