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http://www.wsj.com/articles/america...ighest-level-since-1967-poll-finds-1477344780
Americans’ respect for local police jumped to its highest levels since 1967, according to a new Gallup poll Monday.
The poll, conducted earlier this month, found 76% of Americans said they have “a great deal” of respect for police in their area, up 12 percentage points from last year.
The findings follow high-profile fatal attacks on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, and come amid ongoing protests over police shootings of black men across the country.
“The sharp increase over the past year in professed respect for local law enforcement comes as many police say they feel they are on the defensive—both politically and for their lives while they are on duty—amid heated national discussions on police brutality and shootings,” writes Gallup analyst Justin McCarthy.
At a memorial last week for two Palm Springs, Calif. police officers killed while on duty, the police chief there made an emotional appeal for an end to violence against law enforcement.
Law enforcement experts said the high-profile killings of five officers in Dallas and three officers in Louisiana this summer contributed to the jump.
“Some of it is the rallying support of law enforcement in the wake of the shootings,” said Laurie Robinson, a criminology professor at George Mason University who co-chaired President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. “The optimist in me thinks it’s more than just a knee-jerk rallying and really has to do with reflection on what the role of police should be and the complex challenges they face.”
William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, which represents about 240,000 law-enforcement officers, said the poll shows that Americans understand that videos of police killing people aren’t the whole picture.
“The public understands that there are incidents where things go horribly wrong,” Mr. Johnson said. “They also understand that policing in the U.S. is the best in the world.”
Mr. Johnson said the killings of police officers had “an eye-opening effect on the American public, especially in Dallas where the officers are protecting antipolice protesters and are gunned down.”
But police still face heavy criticism, especially in minority communities, where the killings of black men have continued to stir protest and demands for increased scrutiny of police use of force.
The Gallup poll revealed racial disparities in attitudes toward police, with 67% of nonwhites saying they have a great deal of respect for local police, compared with 80% of whites.
In a separate poll conducted before the police shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Gallup found that 56% of Americans had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in police, up from a 22-year low of 52% in 2015.
A Pew Research Center survey released last month showed that six in 10 Americans believe police killings of black people are a sign of a broader problem between blacks and police, while 39% say they are isolated incidents. Nearly eight of 10 black people said these deaths signal a larger problem, compared with 54% of whites.
That poll also showed big disparities between black and whites over whether police use the right amount of force and whether police departments hold officers accountable for misconduct.
Americans’ respect for local police jumped to its highest levels since 1967, according to a new Gallup poll Monday.
The poll, conducted earlier this month, found 76% of Americans said they have “a great deal” of respect for police in their area, up 12 percentage points from last year.
The findings follow high-profile fatal attacks on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, and come amid ongoing protests over police shootings of black men across the country.
“The sharp increase over the past year in professed respect for local law enforcement comes as many police say they feel they are on the defensive—both politically and for their lives while they are on duty—amid heated national discussions on police brutality and shootings,” writes Gallup analyst Justin McCarthy.
At a memorial last week for two Palm Springs, Calif. police officers killed while on duty, the police chief there made an emotional appeal for an end to violence against law enforcement.
Law enforcement experts said the high-profile killings of five officers in Dallas and three officers in Louisiana this summer contributed to the jump.
“Some of it is the rallying support of law enforcement in the wake of the shootings,” said Laurie Robinson, a criminology professor at George Mason University who co-chaired President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. “The optimist in me thinks it’s more than just a knee-jerk rallying and really has to do with reflection on what the role of police should be and the complex challenges they face.”
William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, which represents about 240,000 law-enforcement officers, said the poll shows that Americans understand that videos of police killing people aren’t the whole picture.
“The public understands that there are incidents where things go horribly wrong,” Mr. Johnson said. “They also understand that policing in the U.S. is the best in the world.”
Mr. Johnson said the killings of police officers had “an eye-opening effect on the American public, especially in Dallas where the officers are protecting antipolice protesters and are gunned down.”
But police still face heavy criticism, especially in minority communities, where the killings of black men have continued to stir protest and demands for increased scrutiny of police use of force.
The Gallup poll revealed racial disparities in attitudes toward police, with 67% of nonwhites saying they have a great deal of respect for local police, compared with 80% of whites.
In a separate poll conducted before the police shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Gallup found that 56% of Americans had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in police, up from a 22-year low of 52% in 2015.
A Pew Research Center survey released last month showed that six in 10 Americans believe police killings of black people are a sign of a broader problem between blacks and police, while 39% say they are isolated incidents. Nearly eight of 10 black people said these deaths signal a larger problem, compared with 54% of whites.
That poll also showed big disparities between black and whites over whether police use the right amount of force and whether police departments hold officers accountable for misconduct.
