The number of shooting victims has skyrocketed across the city this year — up 43 percent in just the last month — while fewer guns are coming off the streets, NYPD statistics reveal.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has repeatedly shifted the focus from shootings to a steep decline in homicides, and claims he is not worried about the gun violence.
But sources told The Post it will only get worse in the hotter summer months, and that the alarming trend is the result of a more “reactive” police force handicapped by the inability to use tactics like stop-and-frisk.
“Cops aren’t putting their hands on anyone,” a source said.
In the last month alone, 129 people were shot, according to the latest CompStat figures, or 43.3 percent more than for the same period last year.
Since January, there has been an overall 13.2 percent increase in shooting victims, while 10.2 percent fewer guns have been recovered compared to 2013.
“Under [NYPD Commissioner Ray] Kelly, we went after guns on the street,’’ a source said. “We stopped the guys in the precincts who we knew were criminals and took guns off them. [It was] proactive policing.
“We are a reactive police force now. We react to violence before going out and trying to stop it before it happens.”
Another NYPD source said it’s clear that the criminals know city cops’ hands are tied thanks to legal challenges to stop-and-frisk and Bratton’s reluctance to push the crime-fighting tactic.
“Gang-bangers were afraid to bring out guns because they may be randomly stopped and arrested. That’s all in the past now,” the source said.
Talking to reporters Monday, Bratton focused on the city’s decline in homicides since the beginning of the year.
“As of this morning, I think we are down 24 homicides,” he said. “That is preliminary. [But] if the current trend were to continue, we will fall under 300.”
He added that despite the hike in shootings, the overall numbers are still relatively low.
“We see an increase in shootings at the moment,” he said. “But I’m comfortable that we’re aware of where they are happening, why they’re happening, who is doing it.”
But police critics of Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio said the pair is more focused on making friends with stop-and-frisk foes than cracking down on crime.
“It’s all peace and love and joy with the new administration,” a source said.
“We’re back in the Summer of Love in ’69 with this administration. They want everyone to like them.”
Additional reporting by Kirstan Conley