Poll: Most LA residents support police

LOS ANGELES, June 22 (UPI) -- A high percentage of Los Angeles residents support the recent actions of the city's police department, the results of a poll indicate.

The Los Angeles Times said Monday its poll of 1,500 registered Los Angeles voters found that 80 percent of those respondents either somewhat or strongly approved of the police department's current actions.

The poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, and Public Opinion Strategies found increased police support among the Los Angeles black and Latino communities.

The June 10-16 poll, which has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points, found 76 percent of Latino respondents supported the police and 68 percent of black respondents backed the city's law enforcement efforts.

The poll results from the city's minority groups marked double-digit increases in police department support compared with a similar 2005 survey, the Times said.

The newspaper said the poll also found that 40 percent of respondents reported having contemplated leaving the city during the last two years with the most common reason being increased housing costs.