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As reported by WCBS2 (NY):
May 23, 2007 6:48 am US/Eastern
CBS 2 Exclusive: Dept. That Can't Shoot Straight
Documents Show Officers Struggle To Hit Live Targets
NYPD 2005 Firearms Discharge Report
Lou Young
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK CBS 2 HD has uncovered some disturbing statistics out of police headquarters. A confidential firearms report indicates a problem with gunfire accuracy in the NYPD.
It’s a troubling question -- when police officers shoot can they hit what they're shooting at?
Many officers find success at the range, but experts and now the statistics indicate there's a big difference between hitting a paper target and firing on the job.
On the firing range, New York City police officers are required to put 80 percent of their shots on target. In the field, they are considerably less accurate even as they shoot more bullets per incident.
A confidential NYPD report indicates an increase in every category of shots fired on the job, accompanied by a disturbing drop in accuracy.
Of 276 police bullets fired in gunfights in 2005 only 23 found their target -- an 8 percent accuracy rate. Comparing the trend to the year before we see gunfight bullet volume up 200 percent, while the accuracy has deteriorated significantly.
"My god, that's pretty poor ... pretty sad," firearms instructor John Parmerton said.
CBS 2 HD brought the report to Parmerton, a retired state trooper who also teaches many city cops. He said they complain that their on-the-job training isn't good enough.
"Not good enough for the weapons that they're carrying and not good enough for the confrontations that are occurring on the street," Parmerton said.
"The weapon" is a 9-millimeter handgun, first designed as a military sidearm capable of pumping out tremendous firepower in short order.
Law enforcement experts say that giving all cops such devastating firepower was a political decision whose success or failure rests on the level of training.
CBS 2 HD asked Robert McCrie, a John Jay College professor of criminal justice, if he thinks it was a mistake to switch to semi-automatic weapons exclusively.
"I think it was a mistake, but it's very hard to say to law enforcement we don't think you should have firepower up to the level of the criminal element," McCrie said.
The stats, in fact, show that during gunfights criminals are more than twice as accurate as NYPD officers with these semi-automatic weapons. Seventeen suspects fired 72 bullets in 2004, hitting officers 14 times -- an accuracy rate of 19 percent compared to the NYPD's 8 percent.
Parmerton said the department's weapons instructors have been turned into paper pushers.
"Because of the sheer volume, because of the requirement to get as many bodies through the place as possible they've become target posters and line callers," Parmerton said. "It's so bad that specialty units like Emergency Services Unit, like Organized Crime Control Bureau, like Counter Terrorism Unit have all extended their firearms training over and above what the rank and file -- the uniformed squads -- get because they realize it's inadequate to put their officers on the street."
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne dismisses the 2005 figures CBS 2 HD reported as "an anomaly."
He said city cops shoot less than they used to, but doesn't address the issue of how well they shoot.
CBS 2 HD asked the NYPD to see 2006 statistics, but we're still waiting for an answer.
An outside review of NYPD's training program, ordered after the Sean Bell shooting, is expected at the end of next month.
The story can be found at; http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_142170041.html
- Janq
May 23, 2007 6:48 am US/Eastern
CBS 2 Exclusive: Dept. That Can't Shoot Straight
Documents Show Officers Struggle To Hit Live Targets
NYPD 2005 Firearms Discharge Report
Lou Young
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK CBS 2 HD has uncovered some disturbing statistics out of police headquarters. A confidential firearms report indicates a problem with gunfire accuracy in the NYPD.
It’s a troubling question -- when police officers shoot can they hit what they're shooting at?
Many officers find success at the range, but experts and now the statistics indicate there's a big difference between hitting a paper target and firing on the job.
On the firing range, New York City police officers are required to put 80 percent of their shots on target. In the field, they are considerably less accurate even as they shoot more bullets per incident.
A confidential NYPD report indicates an increase in every category of shots fired on the job, accompanied by a disturbing drop in accuracy.
Of 276 police bullets fired in gunfights in 2005 only 23 found their target -- an 8 percent accuracy rate. Comparing the trend to the year before we see gunfight bullet volume up 200 percent, while the accuracy has deteriorated significantly.
"My god, that's pretty poor ... pretty sad," firearms instructor John Parmerton said.
CBS 2 HD brought the report to Parmerton, a retired state trooper who also teaches many city cops. He said they complain that their on-the-job training isn't good enough.
"Not good enough for the weapons that they're carrying and not good enough for the confrontations that are occurring on the street," Parmerton said.
"The weapon" is a 9-millimeter handgun, first designed as a military sidearm capable of pumping out tremendous firepower in short order.
Law enforcement experts say that giving all cops such devastating firepower was a political decision whose success or failure rests on the level of training.
CBS 2 HD asked Robert McCrie, a John Jay College professor of criminal justice, if he thinks it was a mistake to switch to semi-automatic weapons exclusively.
"I think it was a mistake, but it's very hard to say to law enforcement we don't think you should have firepower up to the level of the criminal element," McCrie said.
The stats, in fact, show that during gunfights criminals are more than twice as accurate as NYPD officers with these semi-automatic weapons. Seventeen suspects fired 72 bullets in 2004, hitting officers 14 times -- an accuracy rate of 19 percent compared to the NYPD's 8 percent.
Parmerton said the department's weapons instructors have been turned into paper pushers.
"Because of the sheer volume, because of the requirement to get as many bodies through the place as possible they've become target posters and line callers," Parmerton said. "It's so bad that specialty units like Emergency Services Unit, like Organized Crime Control Bureau, like Counter Terrorism Unit have all extended their firearms training over and above what the rank and file -- the uniformed squads -- get because they realize it's inadequate to put their officers on the street."
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne dismisses the 2005 figures CBS 2 HD reported as "an anomaly."
He said city cops shoot less than they used to, but doesn't address the issue of how well they shoot.
CBS 2 HD asked the NYPD to see 2006 statistics, but we're still waiting for an answer.
An outside review of NYPD's training program, ordered after the Sean Bell shooting, is expected at the end of next month.
The story can be found at; http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_142170041.html
- Janq
