NEW YORK, NY October 24, 2007 —New York City police officers used their guns more last year than they did in, but fired fewer rounds when they did. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more on the department's annual report, which was obtained by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

REPORTER: In 2006, there were 126 occasions when NYPD officers resorted to using their gun, up slightly from 2005. But last year, they fired fewer shots. Officers were also involved in fewer gunfights in 2006 than in 2005. But Chris Dunn, with the NYCLU, says there's room for improvement.

DUNN: There continues to be a relatively high number of incidents in which police officers are shooting their weapons when no one is firing back and we think the department should look closely at those.

REPORTER: According to the police report, officers used their gun when faced with other weapons 10 times. In 20 other instances, they fired at a civilian who had a gun but did not use it. For WNYC, I'm Bob Hennelly.

The report also found that police guns killed 13 civilians, up from 9 in 2005. Police used weapons most frequently in Brooklyn North, closely followed by the Bronx. Accidental discharges accounted for more than a fifth of all police gun incidents in 2006.