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Philly's Top Cop Discusses Big Drop In Officer Involved Shootings

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Officer involved shootings in Philadelphia are at an all-time low this year, and the city's top cop points to a new training program.

When a cop either accidentally or intentionally shoots at someone, not necessarily hitting them, it's recorded on a public website.

So far this year, there have only been about a dozen officer involved shooting in Philadelphia, dropping more than 30 percent from last year.

"We are down just 50 percent just last year, and last year was a significant low," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.

He credits the decline to both community involvement and..

"Our reality based training program which gets a lot of kudos from our police officers, even veteran police officers," he said.

Officers are taught how to try to resolve high-stress situations, in hopes of literally - not jumping the gun.

Ross says the drop is even more surprising, as the number of gun-related arrests have significantly increased.

"We don't ever want bad things to happen," he said. "I think you have to acknowledge some of the great work that is done by the commanders in this city, as well as the police officers on the ground that are getting it done, and their manner in how they can deescalate so many situations that people don't even think about."

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