The recent ruling against stop-and-frisk has emboldened the city’s pistol-packing perps.
In the month after federal judge Shira Scheindlin’s decision that the police procedure is unconstitutional, shootings spiked nearly 13 percent — and gun seizures plummeted more than 17 percent, The Post has learned.
During the 28 days ending Sept. 8, there were 140 shootings across the Big Apple, compared to 124 during the same period last year, the figures show.
And the number of gunshot victims was up more than 9 percent, with 164 people struck by bullets this year, compared to 150 shot over that month last year.
The victims include two tragic tots: 16-month-old Antiq Hennis, who was slain in his stroller as his parents pushed him across a Brooklyn street, and little Tharell Edward, 3, who was struck by a bullet in the head as he slept in his crib in the same borough.
Meanwhile, cops seized only 239 firearms between Aug. 10 and Sept. 8, compared with 289 weapons taken off the streets during the same time last year.
Gun charges are also down more than 15 percent, with monthly arrests dropping to 417 this year from 492 last year.
Sources blamed the disturbing trends on Scheindlin’s ruling, which was handed down two days after the start of this year’s monthly reporting period.
“Shootings are going through the roof now because perps are not afraid to carry a gun,” the source said.
Another NYPD source said that cops are no longer being “proactive” with stop-and-frisk because “they’re scared of being sued. They feel as if the city is not going to indemnify them in lawsuits,” the source said.
Ever since Scheindlin’s ruling, cops jokingly refer to the anti-crime program — which is officially called “stop, question and frisk” — as “stop, watch and wait,” a third source said.
Republished with permission of The New York Post
