police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh | Pew Research Center

August 26, 2026

Majority of Public Favors Giving Civilians the Power to Sue Police Officers for Misconduct

police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh

police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh — police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh.

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Majority of Public Favors Giving Civilians the Power to Sue Police Officers for Misconduct
Two-thirds of Americans say civilians need to have the power to sue police officers for using excessive force
Declining shares of Americans give police forces positive ratings for using force appropriately, treating racial groups equally and holding officers accountable
Far more Americans favor keeping spending on policing at current levels – or increasing it – than cutting spending
Broad support for several policing policies, including making it a crime for police to use chokeholds
Black adults are highly critical of police performance in several areas, including protecting people from crime; far fewer white adults express negative views
Black and white Americans less likely to rate police positively than in fall of 2016
Partisan gap on several evaluations of police performance wider than in 2016
Democrats more likely than Republicans to say they favor several police reform proposals
Black Americans more likely than white Americans to strongly favor several policing proposals
Black adults and young people most likely to say spending on police should be decreased
Among Democrats, support for cutting police spending higher among liberals, younger adults
Stark GOP age divide over whether civilians should be able to sue police
police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh