Do Police Treat All Races Equally?

Jonathan BlanksRecently, Pew published a wide-ranging survey entitled “Why Americans Don ’t Fully Trust Many Who Hold Positions of Power and Responsibility. ” Police officers were among the groups polled among respondents. The results on cops align with what is shown in the annual Confidence in Institutions survey published by Gallup—briefly, that cops are among the most liked and trusted groups in America, despite the enduring “war on cops” nar rative—but the general affinity for police breaks down across demographics. The results also mesh well onto what my colleague Emily Ekins found in her2016 polling on American attitudes toward police.From the Pew release:“[O]pinions about police officers differ widely by racial and ethnic group, with white people holding more positive opinions about police officers than black people and Hispanics do. This racial and ethnic divide is most apparent when it comes to police officers treating all racial and ethnic grou ps equally.Roughly seven-in-ten white Americans (72%) say police officers treat racial and ethnic groups equally at least some of the time. By way of comparison, half of Hispanics and just 33% of black adults say the same. The racial divide extends beyond opinions about police officers treating racial and ethnic groups equally. Across all six questions asked about police officers, whites are more likely than both Hispanic and black Americans to express positive views of police officers. ” (emphasis added)Ful...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs