New York City Police Department - NYC

1 New york city Police Department Annual Firearms Discharge Report ANNUAL FIREARMS DISCHARGE REPORT 2013 William J. Bratton Police Commissioner 2014, New york city Police Department ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: 1 2 Use of 3 Guidelines for the Use of 4 4 5 Investigation and Review 5 The Shooting 5 The Shooting Incident 6 The Final 7 7 The Borough Firearms Discharge Advisory 7 The Chief of Department s Firearms Discharge Review 8 The Police 8 10 2013 by 13 2013 14 Total Firearms 14 15 PART II: INTENTIONAL DISCHARGE ADVERSARIAL 16 17 Dates and Times of 17 Locations of 18 Locations of Criminal 18 Location 20 Reasons Officer 21 iii Threat 22 Officer 23 Objective Completion 23 Officer 24 Shooting 24 Officer 24 Subject 26 Prior 27 Incident 27 Officer 27 Officer 27 Bullet-Resistant 28 Subject 28 Subject 28 Bystander 28 28 29 PART III: INTENTIONAL DISCHARGE ANIMAL 30 31 Dates and Times of 31 Locations of 32 Reasons Officer 33 Officer 34 Objective Completion 35 Officer 35 Shooting 35 Officer 35 Incident 37 iv PART IV.

2 UNINTENTIONAL 38 39 Non-Adversarial Unintentional 39 39 39 Adversarial Unintentional Discharges .. 39 40 Officer 40 Incident 42 PART V: UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A 43 44 Officer 44 44 Discharges by Other Than an 45 Incident 45 PART VI: MISTAKEN 46 47 2013 47 48 Appendix A: Historical 49 Appendix B: Firearms 52 Appendix C: Subjects Killed During ID-AC 54 Appendix D: Subject Race, 57 Appendix E: Supplemental Data .. 58 v TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES PART I: 1 Anatomy of a Firearms Discharge 9 Historical Snapshot, 11 Adversarial Conflict, 12 Animal Attack, 12 Unintentional Discharges, 12 Total Discharges, 12 2012 v.

3 2013 12 2013 Firearms Discharge 14 PART II: INTENTIONAL DISCHARGE ADVERSARIAL 16 ID-AC Incidents by 17 ID-AC Incidents by 18 ID-AC Incidents vs. Criminal Shooting 19 Criminal Shooting Incidents vs. ID-AC Incidents, Percentage by 20 Criminal Shooting Incidents vs. ID-AC Incidents, Frequency by 20 ID-AC Incidents by Location 21 On-Duty Officer Assignments, ID-AC 21 Situations Precipitating On-Duty ID-AC 22 Threat Type, ID-AC 22 Rounds Fired Per ID-AC 23 Rounds Fired Per ID-AC 23 ID-AC Distance to 24 Race, ID-AC Officers vs. Department 25 Years of Service, ID-AC Officers vs. Department 25 Rank, ID-AC Officers vs.

4 Department 26 Criminal Shooting Suspects vs. ID-AC Subjects by 26 vi PART III: INTENTIONAL DISCHARGE ANIMAL 30 ID-AA Incidents by 31 Locations of 32 ID-AA Incidents by 32 ID-AA Incidents by Location 33 Officer Assignment, ID-AA 33 Situations Precipitating On-Duty ID-AA 34 Rounds Fired Per ID-AA 34 Rounds Fired Per ID-AA 35 Race, ID-AA Officers vs. Department 36 Years of Service, ID-AA Officers vs. Department 36 Rank, ID-AA Officers vs. Department 37 PART IV: UNINTENTIONAL 38 Race, Unintentional Discharges vs. Department 41 Years of Service, Unintentional Discharges vs. Department 41 Rank, Unintentional Discharges vs.

5 Department 42 PART V: UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A 43 Police Officer Suicides by Firearm, 45 PART VI: MISTAKEN 46 48 Officers Shot and Injured by Subjects, 49 Officers Shot and Killed by Subjects, 49 Subjects Shot and Injured by Officers, 50 Subjects Shot and Killed by Officers, 50 Total Shots Fired, 51 Total Shooting Incidents, 51 vii Gunfire in New york city , 57 Subjects Wounded by Officers, 57 Subjects Killed by Officers, 57 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Day, 58 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Tour, 58 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Month, 59 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Borough, 59 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Precinct, Manhattan, 60 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Precinct.

6 Bronx, 61 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Precinct, Brooklyn, 62 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Precinct, Queens, 63 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Precinct, Staten Island, 63 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Location, 64 Firearms Discharge Incidents by Officer Duty Status, 64 ID-AC Incidents, 65 PART I: OVERVIEW 2013 Annual Firearms Discharge Report 2 INTRODUCTION The New york city Police Department began to collect in-depth documentation of firearm discharges during hostile encounters in 1971, for the purpose of [increasing] the safety potential of each member of the force. The policy quickly expanded beyond Police -involved combat, however, and came to include the study of other categories, such as unintentional discharges.

7 Today, the Department tracks any incident in which a Department firearm is discharged, even if the person discharging the weapon is not an officer. Four decades of annual analyses have altered the way officers respond to, engage in, and assess the need for firearms discharges. Information gleaned from the annual reports has saved lives, and there has been Department -wide change with regard to firearms safety, retention, and tactics. The Department has made restraint the norm. When annual recordkeeping began in 1971, 12 officers were shot and killed by another person, and 47 officers were shot and injured. Officers, in turn, shot and killed 93 subjects, and injured another 221.

8 By contrast, in 2013, three officers were shot and injured by subjects, while Police shot and killed eight subjects, and injured 17 others; no officer was killed by subject gunfire in 2013. Today, the reports additionally serve as statistical support for the development of training, the adoption of new technology, and the deployment of Department resources. New instructional scenarios are implemented as a result of this analysis, and new hardware from bullet-resistant vests to conducted-energy devices have been introduced. Tracking how, when, where, and why officers discharge their weapons is an invaluable tool for working towards the Department s ultimate goal of guaranteeing that, for every discharge, no option exists other than the use of a firearm.

9 2013 Annual Firearms Discharge Report 3 USE OF FORCE Police officers are among a select few to whom society has granted the right to use force in the course of their duty. Under New york State law, Police may use force to affect an arrest or prevent an escape, as well as to protect life and property. With certain very specific exceptions, a private citizen s ability to resort to force is limited to self-defense and is also predicated on first exhausting all attempts at retreat. Police , on the other hand, are not only obligated to stand their ground, but required to pursue fleeing perpetrators and use force, if necessary, to terminate that flight.

10 An officer s role encompasses service, crime control, and order maintenance; the last two regularly require officers to issue instructions and orders. Compliance in these matters is not optional. The vast majority of Police encounters involve nothing more than words, but when words are insufficient when people choose to ignore or actively resist Police officers have an ascending array of force options to compel others to submit to their lawful authority. These options extend from professional presence up through verbal force, physical force, non-impact weapons ( pepper spray), conducted energy devices, impact weapons ( batons), and deadly physical force.