N.Y. on Record Pace For Fewest Deaths At Hands of Police

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The New York Sun

With only two months left in the year, the city is on pace to record the fewest number of fatalities at the hands of police officers, data compiled by the Police Department show.


With seven fatal shootings as of October 24, the rate is similar to last year’s, when there were also seven fatalities in the first 10 months, on the way to 11 for the full year, the data indicate. Eleven represents the current annual record, a figure that was also accomplished in 2001 and 1999.


“It’s statistically likely it’ll be less,” a professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Eli Silverman, said. The rate has dropped, he said, because police leaders have instituted more restrictions and more frequent reviews. “The NYPD has a lower police shooting rate than virtually every other major police department,” he said.


The number of fatalities has dropped considerably since 1973, the first year for which statistics were available, when they reached a high of 54.


The deputy commissioner of public information, Paul Browne, attributed the record lows to “training and overall restraint in general.”


All seven of the shooting deaths recorded this year were deemed justifiable, Mr. Browne said. Of the 11 logged in 2004, 10 were deemed justified and one was accidental, Mr. Browne said.


The executive director of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, Thomas Reppetto, noted that the number of fatalities at the hands of police officers has been dropping steadily in the last decade.


“The general trend has been fewer shots fired and fewer individuals hit in the last decade,” Mr. Reppetto said. “The city is less violent.” But, “principally it’s been because of improved training.”


Reports of the seven major crimes are also down, the police said. For the year there have been 106,693 major crimes, compared to 112,286 at the same time last year.


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