Keep Kelly Atop Police Department, New Yorkers Say in Poll

Christopher Gregory/The New York Times Raymond W. Kelly, the New York police commissioner, center, in Washington last month, received high marks in a survey.

Whether Democrat or Republican, white or nonwhite, male or female, wealthy or not, New York City voters overwhelmingly like Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and would prefer that he remain in the job under the next mayor, a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday found.

While Mr. Kelly’s high marks among voters, across various demographics, may come as little surprise, the results will probably fuel political intrigue in the midst of the mayoral race.

poll numbers say that Kelly is a tremendously popular police commissioner,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Voters said that they like the idea of bringing Kelly back, and if a candidate says that they are going to reappoint Kelly, this would be a plus.”

Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said they approved of Mr. Kelly’s job performance; 63 percent said any mayoral candidate’s promise to ask Mr. Kelly to stay on as commissioner would be viewed as a reason to vote for that candidate. By contrast, the survey showed, 19 percent viewed such a pledge as a drawback.

Among the growing field of Democratic and Republican mayoral hopefuls, so far only Christine C. Quinn has publicly signaled her inclination to keep Mr. Kelly, who is in his final year as commissioner under Mayor Michael! R. Bloomberg. Ms. Quinn, a Democrat and City Council speaker, has said the city “would be lucky” if Mr. Kelly stayed on.

On Thursday, Joseph J. Lhota officially entered the mayoral race as a Republican. Mr. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a deputy mayor under Rudolph W. Giuliani, appeared to tiptoe around the subject of Mr. Kelly’s tenure, saying, “I think it’s presumptuous to talk about who I would appoint or not appoint.”

“Do I admire Ray Kelly Yes. I worked with Ray Kelly and his entire team day in and day out while I was at the M.T.A.,” Mr. Lhota said Thursday. “I have an enormous amount of respect for Commissioner Kelly and his entire team.”

Mr. Lhota added, “At the time, when elected, I will have a conversation with Ray Kelly about whether or not he wants to stay or wants to do something different.”

Mr. Kelly, a registered independent who has served twice as commissioner (he first held the post under Mayor DavidN. Dinkins), has repeatedly brushed aside questions about his future, although he has said recently that he has no plans to run for public office.

“As encouraging as this latest poll is in terms of the confidence expressed in him and in the Police Department, it’s also problematic in fanning speculation that he had hoped had been quieted,” said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the department.

Mr. Browne was noncommittal when asked whether Mr. Kelly would agree to remain if Ms. Quinn asked him to do so, should she become mayor. Mr. Browne paused for several seconds and then, seeming to choose his words carefully, said, “Despite the fact that we ended the year with a record low number of homicides, the nature of policing in this city is fluid and constantly challenging, leaving Commissioner Kelly with little, if any, time for that kind of speculation.”

Despite his popularity, Mr. Kelly has been a somewhat polarizing figure, specifically in the debate over the Police D! epartment! ’s stop-and-frisk tactic.

Among those surveyed, 50 percent said they disapproved of the police practice, while 46 percent said they approved. When broken down along racial lines, 56 percent of whites said they approved of the practice. By contrast, 27 percent of African-Americans and 42 percent of Latinos approved, according to the poll.

The survey of 1,332 New York City voters was conducted by phone between Jan. 8 and 14 with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

A version of this article appeared in print on 01/18/2013, on page A20 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Keep Kelly Atop Police Dept., New Yorkers Say in Poll.