NYPD Police Shootings Reach Record Low

While the number of officer-involved shootings fell to a record low in 2010, New York City police officers fired nearly a quarter more bullets than a year earlier, according to the Firearms Discharge Report.

In 2010, NYPD officers fired their guns 92 times , 13% less than the 106 shootings in 2009. The number is the lowest since 1971, when the department began tracking the data.

The department is expected to report an even lower number for 2011. With six weeks remaining, only 83 officer-involved shootings have been recorded.

"The improvement is due to police training, restraint, and our success in reducing crime overall," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the New York Daily News .

Also, the number of bullets fired by police last year increased 24%, from 297 to 368. Two gun battles, including a shootout in Harlem where a suspect was hit by 23 rounds, played a role in that increase, police said.