from Statista.com
— this post authored by Willem Roper
The “Defund the Police” movement has quickly gained traction across the country as part of the broader Black Lives Matter movement, where those seeking justice for the killings of innocent Black Americans believe too much of the country’s budget goes toward policing. New data shows that a majority of Americans are against defunding the police, preferring to keep spending levels the same or even to increase them.
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A new survey from Pew Research Center shows that 42 percent of U.S. adults believe local police spending across the country should stay the same. Of those who believe it should increase, 20 percent are in favor of increasing police spending by a little and 11 percent would increase spending by a lot. Just 14 percent and 12 percent of U.S. respondents said they would decrease spending by a little and by a lot, respectively.
Still, other results from the survey show a majority of U.S. adults prefer additional policies and measures to keep police officers from elevating themselves above the law. Two-thirds of Americans said they favor the ability for civilians to sue police officers in situations of misconduct and excessive use of force – a practice that is nearly impossible in many parts of the country due to qualified immunity. 92 percent of Americans were in agreement on police being required to be trained in nonviolent alternatives to deadly force, and 90 percent were also in favor of creating a federal government database to track officers accused of misconduct.
The demographics and politics of the responses showed a wide variance of opinions. Those in favor of cuts to spending were predominantly Black and young Americans.
42 percent of Black respondents and 45 percent of respondents between the ages of 18-29 were in favor of decreasing police spending by either a little or a lot. That’s compared to just 21 percent and 24 percent of white and Hispanic adults, respectively, and 28 percent, 17 percent and 13 percent of those in the age groups of 30-49, 50-64 and over 65, respectively. In total, just 25 percent of all respondents said they were in favor of decreasing police spending in any way.
Democrats and Republicans were unsurprisingly split on the issue. Just 8 percent of Republicans were in favor of cutting police spending compared to 41 percent of Democrat respondents. Democrats, however, were equally split among more specific demographics. While 57 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18-49 were in favor of police spending cuts, just 28 percent of Democrats over the age of 50 said the same – with 71 percent either in favor of spending staying the same or increasing. 43 percent and 42 percent of white and Black Democrats were in favor of decreased spending, while just 32 percent of Hispanic Democrats were in favor of cuts.
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