Most Americans think change must be made to the nation's law enforcement agencies, and that reforms are necessary to reduce the incidences of police brutality against Black Americans, according to a new poll.
In its survey of 1,113 adults polled from June 18-22 by Ipsos, on behalf of Public Agenda and USA Today:
- 87% of respondents said officers must be required to undergo training on de-escalation tactics.
- 82% said police must be required to undergo training on how to be less racially biased.
- 72% said more Black Americans must be recruited to become police officers.
- 7% want to leave policing and law enforcement the way it is.
The poll, conducted as part of the Hidden Common Ground initiative, had a credibility interval — similar to a margin of error — of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
Meanwhile, about three in four people said racial bias against Black Americans is a serious problem in the United States, but slightly fewer saw it as a problem in their own communities.
However, there was a perception divide on whether police officers treat everyone similarly, regardless of race:
- 43% of white respondents think officers treat everyone equally.
- 9% of Black respondents believe everyone is treated equally.
- 26% of white respondents think excessive force against Black Americans is a problem.
- 68% of Black respondents think excessive force is a problem.
Most respondents also said they support transparency reforms for police, including 9 in 10 supporting body cameras; 8 in 10 calling for departments to publicly report, within 72 hours, incidents involving the use of force; and almost as many supporting a national public database of officers who have used excessive force and prohibiting other jurisdictions from rehiring them.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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