Police

Amid mounting public concern about violent crime in the U.S., Americans’ attitudes about police funding in their own community have shifted.

Currently, 55% of U.S. adults express at least some support for the Black Lives Matter movement, unchanged from a year ago.

“Saddened, hurt, disgusted,” one woman in her 50s said. “Never thought I would see anything like this in my life.”

The two primary sources of government crime statistics both paint an incomplete picture, though efforts at improvement are underway.

The public is more likely to have heard “a lot” about ongoing confrontations between police and protesters than several other stories.

55% of U.S. adults now express at least some support for the Black Lives Matter movement, down from 67% in June.

While declining shares give police forces positive marks for their use of force, treatment of racial groups and officer accountability, there is little support for cuts in spending on local policing.

Americans who recently protested are more likely to live in an urban area and to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party.

As demonstrations continue across the country to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man killed while in Minneapolis police custody, Americans see the protests  both as a reaction to Floyd’s death and an expression of frustration over longstanding issues.

In April, 78% of Americans overall – but 56% of black Americans – said they had confidence in police officers to act in the public's best interests.