More than half of New York City voters support the quality-of-life law-enforcement tactic known as broken-windows policing, say a Quinnipiac University survey reported by the Wall Street Journal. Fifty-seven percent of respondents backed with broken windows, despite criticism the strategy has drawn from the left. Phil Walzak, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, said the mayor remains committed to broken-windows policing.
Almost 90 percent of voters believe crime is now a serious issue in the city, an increase from responses in Quinnipiac's January poll. Fifty-five percent of New Yorkers approve of the job that Police Commissioner William Bratton is doing. Yet 56 percent disapprove of how de Blasio is handling the police department, up from 52 percent in January. Policing has proved a political challenge for the mayor, especially after two police officers were killed in December and protests erupted on the streets.