Genioux News: Gallup, Black Americans Want Police to Retain Local Presence, Lydia Saad, August 5, 2020

These findings are from a June 23-July 6 Gallup Panel survey, administered by web in English and conducted as part of the newly launched Gallup Center on Black Voices. The study includes large samples of Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans, weighted to their correct proportions of the population.

Highlights:

Most (81%) want police to spend same amount of or more time in their area.

Notably, simply having an interaction with the police in the past year has no bearing on Black Americans' preference for local police presence in their area:

• Seventy-nine percent of those who have had an interaction with the police in the past 12 months say they want the police to spend more or the same amount of time in their neighborhood; 21% favor less time.
• Eighty-two percent of those who have not had an interaction want the same or greater police presence; 18% want less.

Confidence About Receiving Positive Treatment by Police

If you had an interaction with police in your area, how confident are you that they would treat you with courtesy and respect?

                                        Black Americans                     U.S. adults

Very confident                        18%                                      48%

Somewhat confident               43%                                      37%

Not too confident                    27%                                      11%

Not at all confident                 12%                                        4%