Report: Philly police chief asks feds to review department's use of deadly force

PHILADELPHIA A website says Philadelphia's police commissioner has asked federal authorities to take a look at the police department's use of deadly force.

Commissioner Charles Ramsey told Philly.com that he sought the review due to the rising number of police-involved shootings.

Philadelphia police shot 52 suspects last year, killing 15 of them. In 2011 police wounded or killed 35 people.

Officers shot and killed a man Saturday, the fourth police-involved shooting in as many days and the third resulting in a suspect's death.

Ramsey said the number of shootings "gets people wondering if they were all justified."

He said police had been looking at the issue since December and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice "agrees this is a good course of action."

When Ramsey was police chief in Washington, D.C., he also asked federal authorities to review excessive force by the police department there.