Philly Cops Are Also Committing More Gun Violence
Philly.com looks at the number of police shootings in the city, and comes away with a few questions:
The number of shootings by police in 2012 resulting in death or injury climbed to the highest level it’s been in 10 years. Philadelphia police shot 52 suspects last year while responding to calls for reported crimes. Of those shot, 15 people died.
And the city’s own police watchdog says the department hasn’t provided a reason for the increase. The Police Advisory Commission has been repeatedly blocked in its efforts to review shootings and, according to the executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, Internal Affairs has refused to supply requested information about any of the shootings.
Police Internal Affairs investigators and the district attorney’s office have not raised any known concerns about the shootings. But the number dwarfs that of the previous year. In 2011, 35 were shot. In 2012, the shootings increased almost 50 percent.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told Philly.com that he wasn’t concerned that Philly seems to have more shootings by police than other big cities, and that he’s satisfied officers here are using “best practices” when drawing a gun. Police here, he said, tend to be the victims of assult more often than other places.
“We have a lot of people on the street with guns, a lot of people not afraid to use guns, and a lot of them are not afraid to assault a police officer,” Ramsey said.
As an aside: It’s going to be really weird if Philly.com independently does important and interesting journalism unconnected from the two major daily newspapers, isn’t it?
