Newest figures show that this year police officers from New York City have shot fewer people than ever. There have been 23 incidents in which cops fired their weapons, compared to 37 in all of last year, according to New York Daily News.
The figures in the past were much higher, with 59 in 2005, while in 1996 there were 147 incidents that ended fatally. Suicides and accidental shootings are not included in those numbers. Speaking about this year, figures show that 32 police officers fired 170 shots and hit their targets at a ratio of 44 percent. In 2016, 70 police officers shot 304 shots, hit their targets 107 times, around 35 percent of all shots fired.
“This is the lowest ever,” said NYPD Inspector Kevin Maloney, who is in charge of the New York City police unit that probes shooting involving officers.
The fall in shootings can be put down to different methods used by officers, with many of them increasingly using stun guns to apprehend assailants, Newsweek reports. Their use has increased by more than a third. They were used 2,372 times through the end of November, while through the same period last year they were used 1,710 times, which is an increase of about 39 percent.
In 2015 stun guns were used 1,672 times and in 2014 they were used 700 times. The number of police officers who have received the stun gun training is 15,755.
“Any less than lethal option we have benefits the officers,” Maloney said.
The NYPD has the largest police force in the entire country with around 34,000 full-time officers. The police department attributes the decline to the creation of the Force Investigation Division which examines and analyzes police-involved shooting. According to officials, training is also improved.
Meanwhile, figures show that Los Angeles Police Department’s officers shot at 42 people in 2016 and Chicago officers shot at 65 people in the same year.
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