Police shootings in Philadelphia plunge

Police officers are shooting less often, firing fewer bullets when they discharge their weapons and striking fewer civilians compared to 2012, new Philadelphia Police Department data shows.

"This is exactly what we want to see," said Kelvyn Anderson, the director of the city's Police Advisory Commission, a civilian watchdog group. "Whatever the department is doing, this is exactly where we want it to go."

Notwithstanding the drop, two recent shootings have been problematic. Brandon Tate-Brown, 26, was killed Dec. 15 following a car stop in Mayfair. The officer who fired the shot that killed Tate-Brown told investigators he discharged his weapon to prevent the 26-year-old North Philadelphia man from reaching a gun wedged into his car's front seat.

Tate-Brown's death sparked local protests echoing those in other cities over the police shootings of black men.

On May 12, Rudolph Keitt, a North Philadelphia man described by his lawyer as schizophrenic, drove into a group of officers then led police on a chase. An officer shot the 47-year-old in the chest, critically wounding him, minutes after a commander radioed an order to call off the pursuit.

The falloff in shootings accelerated after the U.S. Department of Justice launched a review of Philadelphia police procedures. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey had requested the review after a Philly.com report highlighted the department's high rate of shootings compared with other cities.

Federal experts spent 18 months scrutinizing department policies and made recommendations this year as part of what they called a "collaborative review." By that time, the drop in shootings was already well underway.

In a scathing 174-page report, the Justice Department issued in March criticized the department for flawed training, spotty oversight and a lack of nonlethal alternatives for officers who encounter potentially violent situations.