Holster that weapon.
The NYPD is on track for an all-time record low number of police shootings for 2011, according to figures released yesterday.
The existing record is 92 police shootings in 2010 — the lowest since 1971, when the department began collecting the data. There have been just 83 recorded so far this year.
Commissioner Ray Kelly attributed the drop to police training, restraint and crime reduction.
Last year, the department recorded 33 intentional shootings in defense of civilians, or of cops themselves. There were 21 accidental discharges, 30 shootings in response to animal attacks, and four instances when civilians obtained and fired cops’ guns.
Two cops shot and killed themselves, while two more were arrested for unjustified shootings.
One number that did climb for 2010 is the amount of bullets officers let fly when they pulled the trigger. Cops squeezed off 24 percent more shots last year, firing 368 rounds compared to 297 in 2009, the report states. Police Department spokesman Paul Browne blamed that on two “protracted gun battles.”