Both figures from 2013 NYPD Annual Firearms Discharge Report
It’s unfortunate that New York City is having these tragic incidents with the public and their police force at this time. They really have the best police discipline of any large city in this country. They are the only one that publishes a detailed report on the police use of firearms every year.
The report for 2013 has just come out.
The killing of two officers is tragic. It’s very rare for a NYPD officer to be shot and killed by a suspect, there is only one other in the last seven years. It was more common before that. This killing will make it much harder to improve discipline in NY and across the country. It does need to be improved as shown by the recent killings of citizens as shown by so much in the news. In the new report, which describes each killing by NYPD shooters, only a few cases seem on their face to be something that should not have been done. In my opinion that includes the two persons armed with knives and one with a motor vehicle. Only one police officer has been killed by stabbing outside a prison situation in the whole country in the last 10 years. Police do get killed by motor vehicles, but almost always by fast moving cars where shooting the driver isn’t an available option. Training police to find ways not to kill people so armed isn’t done but it should be.
The turning of backs on the Mayor and the NY Police Union spokesperson saying that police would refuse to do the actions required by their duty is so far from the principles of honorable service, principles that I was taught when I served in the Army many years ago, that I simply can’t understand it. The officers take an oath. Right or wrong, if they can’t abide by it, they have to resign or face discipline. All of our problems with police eventually come down to lack of discipline. Undisciplined persons with guns are a danger to everyone.