NYCLU Releases NYPD Firearms Discharge Report, Calls on NYPD to Reveal Race of Shooting Victims

In a letter sent this morning to New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the New York Civil Liberties Union called on the NYPD to release documents identifying the race of all people shot by the police as well as all of the annual reports the NYPD has compiled about its shooting practices.

With today’s request, the NYCLU also is releasing the recently completed NYPD Firearms Discharge Report for 2006, a document which covers the period of time during which NYPD officers fired 50 shots at an unarmed Sean Bell and two friends.

The NYCLU letter, from Executive Director Donna Lieberman and Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, notes that “as highlighted by the Bell shooting, the role of race in police shootings remains a serious concern for many.” Because of this and because the Firearms Discharge reports contains no information about racial aspects of police shootings, the NYCLU has formally requested under the state’s Freedom of Information Law that the NYPD produce documents identifying the race of shooting victims over the last 10 years.

The NYCLU has also asked that the department produce copies of every annual Firearms Discharge Report. Though the NYPD does not publicly release these reports, the NYCLU believes they contain important information about shooting practices that should be made available to public officials outside the NYPD, to advocates and to the general public.

“NYPD shooting practices raise important policy issues, particularly when race may be a factor,” Lieberman said.

Added Dunn, “We believe the NYPD must be more transparent when it comes to shooting incidents.”

• Click here to read the NYCLU FOIL Letter on Race of Shooting Victims (PDF).
• Click here to read the 2006 NYPD Firearms Discharge Report (PDF).