About 48% of Americans said they trusted a ‘big deal’ or ‘a lot’ in the police force, down from 53% last year, according to a new Gallup poll.
The results are part of the annual Gallup Institutions Confidence Questionnaire, a clock for Americans’ beliefs in the medical system, media, public schools, the presidency and more.
Gallup has been urging Americans about their confidence in police for nearly 30 years. This is the lowest it has dropped since the first police level in 1994 (the previous high was 64% in 2004), Gallup said.
Black respondents are less likely to have confidence in police
Since Gallup began including police in its survey of trust in institutions in 1993, White respondents have been more likely to express confidence in police than Black respondents, per Gallup.
This year, confidence in police declined on the part of both Black and White participants, but the dip among Black participants was more marked: 19% of Black participants said they had a “great” or “fairly” confidence in police. 56% of White participants said the same.
It is the largest gap between black and white respondents that Gallup has included in today’s interview, which asks respondents across 16 institutions.
Confidence of black Americans in policing ran in the mid-30% range until 2014 (one year Afte George Zimmerman was released in the murder of Trayvon Martin; the same year protests began in Ferguson, Missouri). Since then, the confidence of Black respondents in policing has continued to decline to 30%, while White respondents have remained at 60%.
Attitudes towards police changed after the death of George Floyd
The new survey is just one indication that Americans’ perception of policing is changing rapidly since protests began in May.
“Defend the police” entered the broad lexicon in late spring. “Defunding” means removing funds from police departments (which often make up the bulk of a city’s budget) and reinvesting these funds in social programs, education or health care.
Several cities have taken steps, as small ones, to defend police departments: This week, Seattle lawmakers voted to cut nearly $ 4 million from the city of $ 400 million for police. Officials from Los Angeles and New York promised not to increase their police budgets.
An earlier Gallup poll, published in July, indicated that Americans are on board with reform. As of last month’s survey, 58% of Americans said “major changes” were needed to improve policing, while another 36% supported “minor changes.” That’s overwhelming support for some form of law enforcement reform in the US.
A small number – about 47% – of the respondents supported the reduction of funding from police department, according to the survey. Support for abolishing police departments completely, as Minneapolis lawmakers have been relocated to do since Floyd’s death in the city, remained relatively low at 15%.
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