Americans who want more funding for their local police force has signicantly increased since last summer, according to a recent poll.
In a Pew Reserach Center study that looked at public opinion concerning police funding and violent crime in the United States, 47% of people surveyed thought more money should be spent on law enforcement agencies in their community. That's a jump from 31% in June 2020.
Of those in favor of more money for local police, 21% said that funding should be increased considerably, with only 11% of respondents feeling that way last year. At the same time, 37% thought local law enforcement spending was at the right level, which was down from 2020's 42%.
Pew's poll also showed that last year's call to "de-fund the police" had lost much of its support after it was informally adopted as a rallying cry that sprung up at many of the protests across the country that were sparked by George Floyd's death. Only 15% of those surveyed believed police spending should be curtailed, a decrease from 25% last year.
The following breakdown looks at how opinions about police spending differed by race.
In favor of increasing local police funding.
- White: 49%
- Hispanic: 46%
- Black: 38%
- Asian: 37%
In favor of decreasing local police funding.
- Black: 23%
- Asian: 22%
- Hispanic: 16%
- White: 13%
The shift in support for more police spending comes as people's concern about violent crime has intensified. In July, 61% of respondents identified violent crime as a very large national problem. That's compared to 48% in April and 41% in June 2020.
Here's how those surveyed in July ranked their concern about other national topics:
- Federal budget deficit: 50% thought this was a very large U.S. problem
- Climate change: 47%
- Racism: 45%
- Economic inequality: 44%
- Illegal immigration: 43%
Pew's study consists of two separate surveys this year. In July, 10,221 people were surveyed, and 10,371 were talked to in September. Go to the Pew Research Center's website to find out more details about the study's methodology.
Check out the center's complete analysis at the group's website
