ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police told WFTV Monday that their crime rate dropped 12 percent this year, but the Orlando Police Department has been involved in seven officer-involved shootings this year.
If crime is down, why are officers shooting more?
"If you point a gun at an Orlando police officer, we are going to shoot you," Orlando police Chief Val Demings said Monday.
Chief Demings offered no apology for the seven officer-involved shootings this year. It's the most for the department in the last decade.
The most recent was Saturday morning when 27-year-old Marvin Ellison was shot in the rear when he pointed his gun at officers twice. Officers say he has been arrested 50 times since he was 12 years old.
"If you're bad enough to pull a gun on a law enforcement officer, chances are the average citizen is not safe," Demings said.
Demings said, even though overall violent crime is down 12 percent, her officers are encountering more violent offenders, making the use of force more likely. The seven uses of deadly force still pale in comparison when you consider they've used a taser or physical take-down more than 600 times.
Orlando officers are better trained to shoot to kill, WFTV learned. The state only requires officers to go every two years to keep certification, but Orlando police officers train at the shooting range every three months.
"Just doing that, sucking down the amount the time they have to engage a threat, the size of target they can shoot, makes out officers a better shot," Lieutenant Kevin Williams of the Orlando Police Department said.