Despite making up only about six percent of the NYPD force, plainclothes cops have been responsible for about a third of the of all the fatal police shootings since 2000, according to a new investigation by The Intercept that used open-sourced data of NYPD gunshot killings.

"Generally, [plainclothes cops] are tasked with being the officers within precincts who do undercover work to try to be more proactive in catching suspected felons," The Intercept's George Joseph told WNYC. They're tasked with "grabbing illegal guns, catching criminal activity such as narcotics trafficking, and sometimes just patrolling areas like the subway or protests, where they feel crimes may be about to occur."

In Crown Heights, Brooklyn, at the barbershop where Saheed Vassell used to work, residents told The Intercept that plainclothes officers would often be very aggressive, instigating conversations, jumping out of cars and conducting general street harassment. 

"Unlike relations with neighborhood cops, where they may know those officers and the beat officers may know the people and the characters of the neighborhood, plainclothes officers are coming in with a much more aggressive and potentially dangerous approach," Joseph said.

Many of the police officers who've been shot in recent years have also been plainclothes cops.

"If you're getting in situations like car chases or foot chases with individuals who may be possessing guns," explained Joseph, "and also not clearly identifying yourself by your uniform, in those split seconds of danger, shootings can go off, people can make mistakes, and people—including officers—can be in danger."

Joseph spoke with WNYC's Richard Hake about the findings of The Intercept's investigation, and why plainclothes officers don't have the same accountability standards as other cops.