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Poll: New Yorkers Want to Keep Ray Kelly, For Some Reason


January 18, 2013 | Andy Cush

It’s hard to say why, but police commissioner Ray Kelly is pretty popular around these parts. So popular, in fact, that despite being the head and public face of a department that’s faced tremendous controversy over stop-and-frisk, seen several cases of police brutality and excessive force, and is considering the use of surveillance drones in the years to come, a new Quinnipiac poll shows that 63 percent of New Yorkers would see a pledge to keep Kelly on board from a mayoral candidate as a reason to vote that candidate.

In the same survey, pollsters asked voters whether they approve of the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk, and the results are telling. While 56 percent of whites approved of the practice, only 27 percent of blacks and 45 percent of Latinos agreed.

(Photo: Azi Paybarah/Flickr)