NYPD Don't Use Sights In Close Up Shootings

The Truth About Guns has a story about some of the statistics from the NYPD's annual report on shooting incidents. 

NYPD Success Rate

There were 36 incidents in 2011 in which officers hit at least one subject per incident 28 times, for a success rate of 78%. When officers were being fired upon, they struck subjects two thirds of the time for a success rate of 66.6% (six out of nine such incidents).

Hit Rate

311 shots were fired by officers in the 36 incidents. The hit rate was 12% (36/311). That means that nine out of ten shots fired missed and went somewhere else. In two of the incidents a high volume of shots were fired. Excluding those, the hit rate was 19% (36/193). Looked at the other way around, eight out of ten shots fired missed and went astray. And in 2011, 1 bystander was killed.

Non-Use of Sights

The hit rate validates the reality that sight shooting just can not be used or is not used in CQB situations. That’s supported by the officers themselves. Thirty-four officers (44%) reported that they had used their sights, or 56 percent of the officers shot without them.
Per the NYPD, “utilizing a two-handed grip, standing, and lining up a target using the firearm’s sights is the preferred method of discharging a firearm, but it is not always practical during an adversarial conflict.” Basically, achieving marksmanship mechanics in close quarters combat, is just “a bridge to [sic] far.”

I have a few bones to pick with TTAG's conclusions.

First,  outside of SWAT teams, police shouldn't be engaging in CQB (close quarter battle). They are police, not a Marine platoon clearing buildings in the battle for Fallujah.

Second, there is a problem with a spray and pray attitude toward shooting--namely, the bullets that miss their targets have to go somewhere. You might remember the August 12, 2012, confrontation between the NYPD and a gunman in Times Square, which left 9 bystanders wounded.

Third, while it is possible to draw lessons from police shooting situations--including what works and what doesn't--the fact that police follow a certain practice doesn't mean that it is the correct or best practice (remember the long insistence by the FBI on shooting from the hip)...especially considering how poor most police are in handling and using firearms. What this indicates to me is poor training. The officers are simply firing before they have their weapon fully up into a firing position, so they can't use their sights. I agree that the careful alignment of sights is not possible at short ranges, but there are techniques that rely on just the front sight or using the outline of the back of the firearm to properly align the weapon. It doesn't help, of course, that the NYPD insists on using weapons with extraordinary heavy trigger pulls. Anyway, rather than exploring why 56% of the officers didn't use their sights, the emphasis should be on why 44% were able to do so.