Eight out of 10 times that police shot into vehicles, officers were found to have violated department policy. The most common punishment for those found guilty of violating the rules, records show, was a reprimand.

The Inquirer’s analysis of vehicle shootings is based on Internal Affairs documents gathered from civil litigation and interviews with attorneys, police, and community members.

Philadelphia police have repeatedly narrowed the circumstances in which officers can fire their weapons since 2001, but the problem persists.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey tightened the rules on firing at moving vehicles a year ago after two undercover officers shot and critically wounded a pizza deliveryman, an incident still under investigation by the district attorney. Ramsey prohibited officers from firing at a vehicle unless they themselves were under fire. But since then, police have shot people inside moving vehicles at least four times, wounding three.

Rudolph Keitt was injured when police shot him in the chest on May 12.

The latest incident involved Rudolph Keitt, who police said crashed his car into a wall in North Philadelphia on May 12, then struck three officers as he tried to make his escape.

Officers said Keitt, 47 and unemployed, appeared incoherent when officers tried to pull him from the car after the crash. His lawyer said Keitt had suffered a seizure — a bad reaction from medication he took for schizophrenia.

A commander called off the chase, according to a police dispatch recording that surfaced last week. He told officers to stay clear of the driver. At a red light, more officers approached Keitt, who hit a patrolman with his car before he was shot in the chest and seriously injured.

The commissioner acknowledges that his department needs better tactics and training when it comes to suspects fleeing in cars. (Previous coverage: Police had called off the pursuit before Keitt was shot | Related NBC10 video.)

In March, the Department of Justice made 91 recommendations to reduce all types of police shootings in Philadelphia. Ramsey had requested the federal review in 2012 after officers’ use of lethal force surged.

In an interview, he pledged to move as quickly as possible on the Justice Department proposals.

Officers must understand the consequences of their split-second decisions, he said. “By the time you pull the trigger, the car has moved and now your target is somebody else,” he said. “There could be other occupants in the car, even children.”

The real tactical question, he said, is “Why are you in front of the car?”

Pointing to a portrait gallery of fallen officers hanging in his conference room, Ramsey added: “But at the same time, I don’t want any more pictures on my wall. I also don’t want officers to be so hesitant that in a case when they should use deadly force, they don’t. And that’s the balance.”

The Moses case, while not mentioned in the federal report, illustrates many of the failings flagged by the task force — weaknesses gathering evidence and finding witnesses, and months-long delays interviewing officers who fired their weapons.

As a result of the police investigation, two officers were disciplined: a one-day suspension for an officer who fired 13 shots and a reprimand for an officer who fired twice.

MATT ROURKE / Associated Press University of Pennsylvania law school professor David Rudovsky has reviewed hundreds of Internal Affairs investigations.

Police found that four others who discharged their weapons into the car did not violate police rules. The officers said they shot because either they believed they were under fire from the car’s occupants or thought the driver was reaching for a gun.

Photographs of the shooting showed the Impala’s front wheel locked in the wreckage of a squad car. That raised questions about some officers’ accounts that the stolen vehicle was moving toward them when they shot, attorneys on both sides of the case said.

University of Pennsylvania law school professor David Rudovsky reviewed the police investigation of the shooting for The Inquirer and found it to be seriously flawed.

“This is a classic example of an Internal Affairs investigator not asking the critical question and uncritically accepting the officers’ version of events when that information contradicts the physical evidence.” University of Pennsylvania law school professor David Rudovsky

“This is a classic example of an Internal Affairs investigator not asking the critical question and uncritically accepting the officers’ version of events when that information contradicts the physical evidence,” he said.

“Over the years, I’ve reviewed hundreds of Internal Affairs investigations,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’ve seen a similar pattern of neglecting evidence.”

The settlement paid to the Moses family will care for the three children left fatherless by the shooting.

Carolyn Moses did not know about the results of the Police Department inquiry into the death of her son until she recently spoke with Inquirer reporters.

Tears began to flow.

“I never got a phone call from the Police Department,” she said. “I watched it on TV. It was hushed up from the beginning, because they know they did wrong.”