Don't Turn Your Back: New Yorkers Really Don’t Like the Way NYPD Officers Protested Mayor de Blasio — Survey

Composite photo of the police "turn your back" protest against NYC mayor de Blasio during the funeral for officer
Rafael Ramos.

By Mark Berman
New Yorkers are pretty unhappy with the way police officers protested against Mayor Bill de Blasio at two recent police funerals. And while the city’s residents continue to support the police, a new poll shows that they believe any officers who deliberately made fewer arrests during a recent slowdown should be disciplined.

Nearly seven in 10 people in the city disapprove of the way police officers turned their backs on de Blasio at the recent police funerals, according to a Quinnipac University poll released Thursday.

Police officers turned their backs on de Blasio at the funerals for Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were gunned down while sitting in their squad car last month. After the shooting, the tense relationship between de Blasio and the police became a very public rift that has only worsened.

De Blasio and William J. Bratton, the police commissioner, criticized these funeral protests last week. The mayor called them disrespectful to the mourning families, while Bratton said he was disappointed with “the selfishness” of the officers who ignored his request that they not to turn their backs at the second funeral.

New Yorkers agree. During a survey conducted between Jan. 7 and Jan. 14, they said they were against the funeral protests.

Read More