Most New Yorkers think Muslims treated fairly: poll

NEW YORK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A poll released on Tuesday found that 58 percent of New Yorkers surveyed believe the city Police Department has treated Muslims fairly despite media reports about its surveillance of Muslims since 9/11.

The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted on March 6-11, also found 82 percent of 964 respondents believe the New York Police Department (NYPD) has been effective in its counter-terrorism efforts.

"New Yorkers overwhelmingly think their police are doing a good job of protecting against terrorism, and they don't believe they' re picking on Muslims," said Maurice Carroll, director of the university's polling institute, in a statement.

The Associate Press recently reported that police monitored mosques and Muslims around the New York metropolitan area and kept tabs on Muslim student groups at universities in upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have maintained that the NYPD's actions are legal and necessary in a city under constant threat of another terrorist attack.