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Spying? What Spying? Poll Says New Yorkers Still Love NYPD, Ray Kelly
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 13, 2012
Modified Mar 13, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 13, 2012
Modified Mar 13, 2012
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Apparently it is going to take more than a little domestic spying to shake New Yorkers faith in the NYPD and its leadership. Despite media outcry over revelations that the NYPD has been spying left and right, a new Quinnipiac poll finds that a majority of New Yorkers don't really mind.
"New Yorkers brush aside the gripes about police surveillance of the Muslim community. Voter approval of the way police are handling terrorism is through the roof and overall approval for police in general and for Commissioner Ray Kelly is undented by criticism," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
63 percent of New Yorkers say they approve of how police are doing their job (31 percent disapprove) and 58 percent say that the police act appropriately in dealing with muslims (29 percent say they don't). Even more interesting, a whopping 82 percent of those polled say the NYPD has been effective combatting terrorism (with only 14 percent saying they haven't).
The warm and fuzzy feelings for the men in blue comes from all sides—the only demographic where a majority disapproved of the way the NYPD handles their job was among blacks, where 50 percent disapproved, 42 percent approved and 8 percent didn't know or didn't answer.
And the NYPD love didn't stop there! Teflon Police Commissioner Ray Kelly continues to be one of the most popular figures going with New Yorkers, pulling in a 64 percent approval rating (including 51 percent of black voters). That is a head above Mayor Bloomberg, who has a 54 percent approval rating (up from 46 last month). Still, arguably thanks to Kelly, Bloomberg does a little better when voters are asked about his handling of crime: 67 percent think he's handling it well.
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