MANHATTAN—The NYPD's use of deadly force dipped to historically low levels in 2013, according to the agency's annual firearm discharge report.
The total number of shots fired — 248 — and total shooting incidents — 81 — were the lowest since the NYPD began keeping records in 1971, the report showed.
By comparison the NYPD fired 2,510 shots in 1972 in a total of 994 shooting incidents, about three per day.
The number of people shot and killed by police officers decreased 50 percent to 8 in 2013 from 16 in 2012 while the number of total firearms discharged fell 23 percent to 81 last year from 105.
The number of people shot and killed by police ties with 2010 for the lowest number of deaths since the agency began recording the data.
But the total number of people shot by police was up 21 percent, to 17 people shot last year compared to 14 in 2012.
NYPD Annual Firearms Discharge Report 2013
The report comes as the city is grappling with the aftermath of the decision by a Staten Island grand jury to not indict a white officer in the chokehold death of a black man, Eric Garner.
A rookie officer also shot and killed unarmed black man Akai Gurley in the stairwell of a Brooklyn public housing complex two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, police shot and killed an apparently mentally unstable and knife-wielding man who stabbed a yeshiva student in the head in Crown Heights, critically injuring him.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the actions of police in that case was appropriate and that the officers demonstrated restraint. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton called the shooting death "unfortunate" yet "unavoidable."
The report makes the case for officers showing restraint in shooting incidents.
During the 40 intentional shootings, police unleashed 162 rounds. That's a 51 percent decrease from the 331 rounds fired by officers during these types of confrontations in 2012.
According to police statistics, 86 percent of officers fired five rounds or less while 44 percent fired one round.
Most of the shootings in adversarial confrontations, 21, were based on a suspect using or threatening the use of a gun.
The location of the intentional shootings also coincides with places in the city where gun violence is still common.
Of the city's 40 intentional shootings, a 48-percent majority — 19 shootings — occurred in Brooklyn. Only 8 percent, or 3 shootings, occurred in Manhattan.
Brooklyn had 48 percent of the city's 1,103 criminal shooting incidents and 44 percent of intentional police shootings in 2013.
