Poll Finds that Most Black New Yorkers Don't believe [the hype] that "Police action improves the quality of life"

How can people who have racist contempt for you "raise your quality of life?" From [HERE] Police issuing summonses and making arrests for low-level offenses improves the quality of life in a neighborhood, 56 percent of New York City voters say, while 35 percent say these police actions add to tensions in a neighborhood, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. 

Police action improves the quality of life, say 49 percent of black voters. That is, 51% or most do not believe that police action improves the quality of life. But at the same time, nearly three-quarters of voters say police brutality is a serious problem, the highest number in more than a decade.

New York City voters support 60 to 34 percent, with very little difference among black and white voters, having police issue summonses or make arrests for low-level quality of life offenses, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. 

Support for the so-called "broken windows" policy — where relatively smaller crimes and offenses are addressed in order to prevent an escalation into more serious crimes — is 61 to 33 percent among white voters, 56 to 37 percent among black voters and 64 to 34 percent among Hispanic voters. 

By a 61 to 33 percent margin, with almost no difference between blacks and whites, voters want police to enforce quality of life issues in their neighborhood such as drinking in public, selling small amounts of marijuana or making loud noise late at night. In fact, when voters were asked by pollsters if someone were selling loose cigarettes illegally in their neighborhood, would they want police to ignore it or try to make that person stop, even if it means arresting that person, 50 percent of voters said they would want police to try to stop it, while 41 percent said police should ignore it. 

Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man, died on July 17 this year as police were trying to arrest him in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island for selling loose cigarettes, an offense for which he had been arrested before. A video of the arrest showed police using a chokehold to subdue Garner. His death sparked outrage among the black community who called for an investigation and a review of police training procedures.

A total of 74 percent of voters say police brutality is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, the highest number since 78 percent in a May 3, 2001, survey.

In the new poll, Hispanic voters say 53 to 43 percent that police should act to stop selling untaxed "loose" cigarettes. White voters are divided as 48 percent want police to act and 44 percent say ignore. Among black voters, 47 percent say police should act and 40 percent say police should ignore it.