With Police Commissioner Ray Kelly under fire from critics charging that too many innocent people are being targeted, the number of stop-and-frisks conducted by the NYPD is plunging.
Figures released yesterday show there were 105,988 such stops from July to September — down 30.4 percent from the same period last year.
And in the first three quarters of 2012, the number reached 443,422 — 13.8 percent below the equivalent period in 2011.
Stop-and-frisk advocates may point out that the number of weapons seized by cops during the controversial stops are also down: 6,424 last year, 5,887 this year.
But among those weapons this year are 652 firearms — up from last year’s 615.
The biggest point of contention has to with the racial breakdown of those stopped: 55 percent black, 32 percent Latino, 10 percent white and 3 percent Asian. Kelly pledged in May to institute additional oversight, training and outreach to prevent racial profiling.
Meanwhile, on another front, 104 felonies were reported in the city’s parks from July to September, up from 97 last year. Prospect Park led with 18, after just eight in 2011. And Staten Island parks’ five reported felonies were their most ever in any three-month period.