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11 Years of Police Gunfire, in Painstaking Detail (Mostly NYPD with a little LAPD for comparison)
NY Times ^ | May 8, 2008 | AL BAKER

Posted on 05/08/2008 6:30:26 PM PDT by neverdem

New York City police officers fire their weapons far less often than they did a decade ago, a statistic that has dropped along with the crime rate. But when they do fire, even at an armed suspect, there is often no one returning fire at the officers. Officers hit their targets roughly 34 percent of the time.

When they fire at dogs, roughly 55 percent of shots hit home. Most of their targets are pit bulls, with a smattering of Rottweilers and German shepherds.

Officers’ guns go off unintentionally or by accident for a variety of reasons: wrestling with suspects, cleaning the weapons, leaning on holsters — even once, in 1996, when a gun was put in an oven for safekeeping.

While the drop in police shootings was already clear, the details were among the myriad facts included in 11 years’ worth of annual New York Police Department firearms-discharge reports that were, without fanfare, handed over to the City Council this week and earlier to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Both groups have been examining the department’s methods of stopping and arresting suspects, sometimes for possession of illegal guns.

The reports cover the years 1996 to 2006, and are used as a training tool and to help officials develop “lesson plans.”

“Patterns and possible hazards are identified” from the statistics, the report adds.

Over all, the numbers show that the department’s use of deadly force has decreased along with the city’s historic drop in crime, and the drop in threats against police officers.

Picked apart closely, the reports provide a remarkable portrait of how the nation’s largest police force, with 36,000 officers, uses its guns. Every shot, from gunfight to accident to suicide, both on and off-duty, is accounted for...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: banglist; lapd; nypd

1 posted on 05/08/2008 6:30:27 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

I’m not a fan of concentrations of power, and I’ve known police to do some pretty rotten things. On the other hand, I trust the NYT even less; and NYPD are far and away some of the most professional and skilled at dealing with people. Come on, being a cop in this city? It must take a very special kind indeed.


2 posted on 05/08/2008 6:33:53 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (I'm over it.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

If you listen to what an officer tells you to do, you will not get shot.


3 posted on 05/08/2008 6:35:11 PM PDT by LukeL (Yasser Arafat: "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize")
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To: LukeL
If you listen to what an officer tells you to do, you will not get shot.

Anybody with a search engine and a few minutes can prove that to be fantasy. I don't need to spend another moment convincing you of it, however.

4 posted on 05/08/2008 6:36:34 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (I'm over it.)
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To: neverdem; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...
see post 1

Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
5 posted on 05/08/2008 6:38:14 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: LukeL
If you listen to what an officer tells you to do, you will not get shot.

Don't bet your life on it.

6 posted on 05/08/2008 6:39:32 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: LukeL
If you listen to what an officer tells you to do, you will not get shot.

Correct. They won't shoot you.

They like to tase you these days.

It's more jollies for them, watching you jerk around and wet yourself.

7 posted on 05/08/2008 6:39:58 PM PDT by humblegunner (Che is Gay)
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To: LukeL
Not true. There's always a notorious case underway ~ Maryland even had a Boy Scout shot in the head by an FBI agent because the kid stupidly obeyed the police officer who directed him to put up or put down his hands.

Best bet is to not move ~ say nothing ~

8 posted on 05/08/2008 6:42:46 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: elkfersupper

Don’t bet your life on it.
______________________________________________________________

You certainly are if you don’t listen.


9 posted on 05/08/2008 7:00:35 PM PDT by burroak
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To: burroak
You certainly are if you don’t listen.

Listen to what?

The sound of my front door shattering?

The obscenity-laced shouted conflicting orders from the hooded armed thugs coming through my door shooting my pets?

What?

10 posted on 05/08/2008 7:09:00 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: cyborg; Clemenza; Cacique; NYCVirago; The Mayor; Darksheare; hellinahandcart; Chode; ...
Chuck Schumer backs former aide over veteran pol in heated state Senate race

GOP To Poll In The 13th (C.D., NY)

John Gambling, Back at WOR in NYC, Scoffs at Imus

FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.

11 posted on 05/08/2008 7:10:58 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: neverdem

I guess either NYPD fixed their firearms safety training programs, or the NY-II trigger module for their Glocks did the trick.


12 posted on 05/08/2008 7:13:42 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: neverdem

“Year in and year out, pit bulls get shot the most- 72 percent.”

So that might explain the behavior of this one...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2012469/posts


13 posted on 05/08/2008 8:15:25 PM PDT by Redcitizen (What we need is a Grand Army of the Republic.)
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To: neverdem

Looks like Manhattan and Queens aren’t too bad. Heck, I even pressed the back arrow because I didn’t believe Queens was that good.


14 posted on 05/08/2008 8:59:43 PM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

I had to laugh out loud at that.

You’re exactly right


15 posted on 05/08/2008 9:01:14 PM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: neverdem

Thanks for the ping!


16 posted on 05/09/2008 8:22:24 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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