U.S. Accuses Baltimore County of Racial Bias in Police Hiring

文章选自2019年8月29日出版的 The Washington Post《华盛顿邮报》

U.S. Accuses Baltimore County of Racial Bias in Police Hiring

Racial Bias 表示“种族偏见”

The Justice Department sued the Baltimore County government Tuesday, alleging that a written test for police officer recruits was unfairly biased against African American applicants.

sue 表示“控告；提起诉讼”，例如：sue sb. for breach of contract 意思是“控告某人违反合同”；
allege 表示“断言，指称，声称”，例如：allege illness 表示“称病”；

Black applicants failed the test at a greater rate than white applicants, resulting in fewer African Americans being hired as police officers, the Justice Department said in the lawsuit.

The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, did not include the pass rates but said the difference was "statistically significant."

file 一般作名词，表示“卷宗“，在句中作动词，表示” 提起（诉讼）；提出（申请）；送交（备案）“，例如：file for divorce 表示”提交离婚申请书”；

statistically significant在统计上是显著的

The exams tested reading, grammar, logic and other skills that the suit alleges are not related to the job of being a police officer.

Police officials declined to comment, referring inquiries to the county executive's office.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. issued a statement saying the department has discontinued the test.

issue a statement 表示“发表声明”
issue an appeal，表示“发出呼吁”

He did not say when the test was discontinued.

"A law enforcement agency should look like the community it serves,"Olszewski said in the statement.

law enforcement agency 是固定搭配，表示“执法机构”

"As I have said repeatedly since taking office, I am committed to increasing diversity in the county's Police Department."

take office 是固定搭配，表示“就职”；
be committed to 也是固定搭配，表示“致力于；委身于；以……为己任”

Baltimore County, which has about 828,000 residents, is 57 percent white, 30 percent black, 6 percent Asian and 6 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections.

Census Bureau 是专有名词，表示“人口统计局”
projection 表示“预测”，例如：make forward / backward projections of population figures表示“推断未来/过去的人口数量”。

County officials did not respond to a request for the current racial makeup of the police department's officers.

racial hatred / prejudice / tension / violence “种族仇恨/偏见；种族间的紧张状况/暴力”

Olszewski, who took office in December, noted that he has created two positions in his administration focused on improving diversity.

He said he will work with interested organizations, such as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Blue Guardians, which represents minority officers.

Justice Department officials declined to comment on the lawsuit and would not say when they started investigating the county force.

Justice Department 表示“司法部门”
comment on sth. 表示“对某事表达意见”

The lawsuit alleges that the use of the test amounts to a "pattern or practice of discrimination" against the African American applicants.

amount to sth. 表示“相当于；总计”

It asks the court to order that the county stop using the test, make "remedial relief " to those who suffered discrimination and adopt "appropriate nondiscriminatory measures" to correct the discrimination.

remedial relief 补救性安慰

Anthony Russell, president of the Blue Guardians, said he has long had concerns about the application process for police officers.

long 在这里作副词，表示“长期地”

Over the years, Russell said, he has seen the number of African American applicants increase but that hasn't translated to more minority officers being hired.

Somewhere in the process, black applicants were being eliminated, Russell said.

eliminate 的常用意是“清除；取消”，在这里指“淘汰”

He had not suspected the test, he said, but had asked Olszewski and Hyatt to order an independent review of the hiring process.

"Recruitment has done its job in getting people to apply,"said Russell, who is a sergeant in the department.

"The number of minority applicants unfortunately did not result in hires."

as a result of 表示“由于”
as a result 表示“结果”。

Russell said it's important to have diversity among the sworn police officers."It makes the community feel more comfortable, that's part one," he said.

sworn 表示“宣过誓的”

"Part two, sometimes based on how you grew up, where you grew up, what your experiences are, you bring a different lens to the situation."

lens本意是“镜片”，在这里引申为“角度，视角”