Poll shows city voters approve of NYPD's job performance

Most city voters think the New York Police Department has been effective in fighting terrorism, and a majority say the NYPD has acted appropriately in its dealings with Muslims, according to a poll released Tuesday that was conducted after a series of stories by The Associated Press about the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims since 9/11.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that 82 percent of those surveyed thought the NYPD had been effective in its counter-terrorism efforts. Asked whether the NYPD dealt with Muslims fairly or targeted them unfairly, 58 percent thought the NYPD acted appropriately, while 29 percent thought police were unfair and 13 percent didn't know or had no answer.

"New Yorkers overwhelmingly think their police are going a good job of protecting against terrorism, and they don't believe they're picking on Muslims," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The 29 percent is a slight jump from the 24 percent who thought the police were unfairly targeting Muslims in a February poll. Carroll said that increase was probably due to public spats among New York, New Jersey and federal authorities over the NYPD's operations outside the city.

Overall, 63 percent of those surveyed approved of the way police are doing their job, although when asked about the controversial policy of stopping, questioning and frisking people, only 46 percent approved while 49 percent disapproved.

The stories from the AP reported that police monitored mosques and Muslims around the New York metropolitan area and kept tabs on Muslim student groups at universities in upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The tactics have raised questions of whether the NYPD is violating the civil rights of Muslims and illegally engaging in religious and ethnic profiling. The U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to investigate the NYPD.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have maintained that the NYPD's actions are legal and necessary in a city under constant threat of another terrorist attack.

"I think they're doing what they have to do," said Emilio Aguilar, a 32-year-old deliveryman, as he took a break on a park bench in Lower Manhattan. "It's for the good of the country."

Respondents' opinions about the NYPD and their tactics varied according to such factors as racial group or age. While 22 percent of white respondents thought the NYPD had unfairly targeted Muslims, 41 percent of black respondents did. People between 18 and 34 were most likely of all age groups to think it was unfair, at 40 percent.

Of those who said they had a favorable impression of Islam, 42 percent thought the police were unfair, while 48 percent thought they were acting appropriately. Of those who had an unfavorable opinion of the religion, 10 percent thought police targeted Muslims unfairly, while 83 percent thought police acted appropriately.

In terms of the stop-and-frisk policy, 59 percent of white people surveyed approved of it, while only 27 percent of black people did. Blacks and Hispanics make up the vast majority of those stopped.

Quinnipiac polled 964 voters in New York City from March 6 to 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.