The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday released a report touting a decline in shootings by officers in 2024, even as officials acknowledged this year\u2019s numbers show the trend reversing with a major uptick in incidents of deadly force.<\/p>\n
LAPD officers opened fire on 29 people last year, compared with 34 in 2023 \u2014 a sign, the report\u2019s authors maintained, that the department\u2019s efforts to curb serious uses of force are having an effect. <\/p>\n
Already in 2025, however, LAPD officers have surpassed the total number of shootings recorded last year, with police opening fire at least 31 times in less than nine months.<\/p>\n
Teresa S\u00e1nchez-Gordon, who on Tuesday was announced as the Police Commission\u2019s new president, said she was struck by the fact that during encounters with people exhibiting signs of mental illness last year, officers sometimes shot instead of first deploying weapons meant to incapacitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can we not increase that \u2026 use of that less-lethal means?\u201d asked S\u00e1nchez-Gordon.<\/p>\n
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told the commission that the use of Tasers and launchers that shoot hard foam projectiles was \u201cforemost on everybody\u2019s minds.\u201d <\/p>\n
But oftentimes, he said, encounters with people in crisis unfold so quickly and unpredictably that officers are left with little time to consider other tools. He noted that the vast majority of shootings stem from 911 calls, rather than \u201cproactive policing,\u201d which he said underscores \u201cthe reactive nature of these events.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timing of Tuesday\u2019s report seemed incongruous amid mounting public anger over a recent rise in police shootings, including a continued pattern of officers killing people who appear to be in the midst of some behavioral crisis. <\/p>\n
The report also noted a rising number of shootings last year in which officers mistakenly believe someone is armed, an increasingly common scenario that has also been cause for recent concern.<\/p>\n
In July, LAPD officers fatally shot<\/a> a man sitting inside a utility van on the city\u2019s Eastside after, they said, he ignored repeated commands to drop what turned out to be a toy Airsoft gun, which resembled a real rifle. The dead man\u2019s fiancee said he had dealt with mental health issues in the past. <\/p>\n