Not-So-Trigger-Happy New York City Police Officers (The New York Times)

    I

Not-So-Trigger-Happy New York City Police Officers
To the Editor;

While I share the concerns of Law­
rence O’Donnell Jr. about police kill­
ing ("When the Police K ill," Op-Ed 
Nov. 26), Times readers should not 
Infer that the statistics, facts and 
speculation presented by Mr. O’Don­
nell are true of killings by New York 
City police. They simply are not.

I know from six years of Intensive 
research that the facts about New 
York City police killings are these:

•  Under law. New York City police 
may use deadly force only to defend 
life or to effect arrests of felons armed 
vdth "firearms or deadly weapons”  or 
who have committed kidnapping, 
arson, prison escape, nighttime bur­
glary of an occupied dwelling or a 
felony Involving violence.

•  New York City police shooting 
rates are far lower than Is true of other 
big cities. Annual police shooting rates 
in America’s three next largest cities, 
for example, are consistently 50 to 300 
percent higher than New York City’s.

•  In 1971, there were 88 fatal police 
shootings in New York City. In 1972, 
when department deadly-force rules 
were established, there were 66. They 
have since continued to decline; in 
1978 there were 39.

•  Between the 1972 establishment of 
the deadly-force rules and Dec. 31, 
1975, the New York City Police Depart­
ment investigated 160 fatal police 
shootings. It found 83.4 percent of 
these to have been Justified. In the re­
maining 16.6 percent, officers were re­
trained, disciplined, transferred to 
less sensitive assignments, placed 
under psychological treatment or ar­

rested. Since 1975, that rate of nega­
tive findings (16 times higher than Mr. 
O’Donnell suggests) has remained re­
markably constant.

•  Following the establishment of the 
deadly-force rules, “ fleeing felony”  
shootings (fatal or otherwise) in New 
York City declined by 75 percent.

•  Fatal shootings of unarmed flee­
ing felon suspects are a rarity In New 
York City. The last occurred in 1974; 
the one before that was in 1971.

•  In 185 (59.6 percent) of the fatal 
New York City police shootings be­
tween 1971 and 1975, the deceased was 
armed with a gun. In 97 cases, the de­
ceased shot at the police; in 22 cases, 
the officer involved was shot (In seven 
cases fatally). Seventy-nine (25.5 per­
cent) were armed with knives; 18 (5.8

percent) bad “ other”  weapons (clubs, 
chains, hammers, etc.); seven (2.3 
percent) attempted (successfully or 
otherwise) to tun police down with au­
tomobiles. Only 21 (6.8 percent) did 
not use a weapon of some sort against 
the police; of these, eight (alone or in 
groups) assaulted police with their 
fists or feet. These percentages have 
also remained constant since 1975.

My point is that Mr. O ’Donnell’s 
statements may accurately describe 
the practice in some police depart­
ments, but they do not accurately de­
scribe the practice in New York City.

James J. Fyfe 
Washington, Dec. 21,1979

The writer, a former Sew York City 
police lieutenant, is a consultant to the 
Police Foundation.

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