Cops hold their fire
NYPD logs record-low 23 shootings in a peaceful 2017
THE NUMBER of clashes that ended with city cops firing their guns is on pace this year for a record low, the Daily News has learned.
There have been 23 incidents — through Wednesday — in which cops fired their weapons, compared to 37 in all of last year. By comparison, officers fired their weapons during confrontations 59 times in 2005 and 147 times in 1996.
“This is the lowest ever,” said Inspector Kevin Maloney, who runs the NYPD unit that investigates police-involved shootings.
The shooting data does not include accidental discharges or suicides.
The shootings so far this year involved 32 cops. In those incidents, officers fired 170 shots and hit their targets 75 times — a hit ratio of 44%. In most years, cops hit their target about 20% of the time.
In 2016, cops were in 37 adversarial shootings, with 70 cops firing 304 shots. Police hit the target 107 times — about 35% of the time.
The NYPD attributed the declining number of shootings to the increase in the use of stun guns.
The devices were used 2,372 times through the end of November, compared to 1,710 through the same period in 2016 — an increase of about 39%. Stun guns were used 1,672 times in 2015 and 700 times in 2014.
To date, 15,755 cops have received the stun gun training.
“Any less than lethal option we have benefits the officers,” Maloney said.
The NYPD also attributed the decline to the creation of the Force Investigation Division, which examines and analyzes police-involved shootings. Training has also improved, officials said.
In the past, investigations were done by separate borough commanders. *—THROUGH DEC. 20 NOTE: DATA DOES NOT INCLUDE SUICIDES OR ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGES
“Every patrol borough handled their investigations differently. The investigations were better in some, (not as good) in others,” Maloney said.
The division brings all of that together and generates more thorough investigations.
“We can make correlations between shootings in Brooklyn North, Queens, the Bronx and try to identify tactics and training issues that can brought out to cops with their boots on the ground,” Maloney said.
Chief Timothy Trainor, a police spokesman, investigated nearly 300 police-involved shootings when he was assigned to the Brooklyn North borough command.
“They’re bringing their training to these gunfights,” he said. “It’s anecdotal — data is limited — but this is based on what see on video, officers being mindful.”
The growing use of body cameras will continue to improve the situation, he said.
“It’s only going to make us more educated in seeing what’s really happening — what the officers are facing and how they’re reacting,” he said.
Trainor said the current stun guns have red-light sighting, which can be sobering for a person in a showdown with cops.
“Purely anecdotal, but I think there is an inherent fear of becoming stunned, or Tased, if you will,” he said. “I think there’s a substantial level of compliance when people are faced with the prospect of being tased.”
Maloney said there is no evidence to suggest cops have fired less because they are worried about being second-guessed or sued.
Trainor said beginning with the tenure of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, and continuing with James O’Neill, the NYPD has been more proactive in dealing with questionable shootings.
“We have to face the uncomfortable reality (that) sometimes, some people make bad decisions or make a tactical decision that puts them at a disadvantage,” he said.
“But we have a responsibility to every single other officer to learn from a mistake, because if we don’t, we’re failing any officer on patrol who will find him or herself in that same scenario, not learning from the mistakes of others.”