Shootings Spike in NYC over the Last Year

The number of shooting victims has skyrocketed across the city this year–up 43 percent in just the last month–while fewer guns are coming off the streets, NYPD statistics reveal.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has repeatedly shifted the focus from shootings to a steep decline in homicides, and claims he is not worried about the gun violence.

But sources told The Post it will only get worse in the hotter summer months, and that the alarming trend is the result of a more “reactive” police force handicapped by the inability to use tactics like stop-and-frisk.

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In the last month alone, 129 people were shot, according to the latest CompStat figures, or 43.3 percent more than for the same period last year.

Since January, there has been an overall 13.2 percent increase in shooting victims, while 10.2 percent fewer guns have been recovered compared to 2013.

“Under [NYPD Commissioner Ray] Kelly, we went after guns on the street,’’ a source said. “We stopped the guys in the precincts who we knew were criminals and took guns off them. [It was] proactive policing.

“We are a reactive police force now. We react to violence before going out and trying to stop it before it happens.”

Another NYPD source said it’s clear that the criminals know city cops’ hands are tied thanks to legal challenges to stop-and-frisk and Bratton’s reluctance to push the crime-fighting tactic.

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Talking to reporters Monday, Bratton focused on the city’s decline in homicides since the beginning of the year.

“As of this morning, I think we are down 24 homicides,” he said. “That is preliminary. [But] if the current trend were to continue, we will fall under 300.”

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