Polling released Wednesday shows that the majority of black people in the United States want police to stay in their neighborhoods rather than have departments defunded or disbanded.
A new Gallup poll, conducted between June 23 and July 6, shows that 81% of black people want the same amount or more policing in their neighborhoods, which breaks down to 61% wanting the police presence to stay the same and 20% saying they would like an increased police presence.
Nineteen percent of African Americans polled expressed the belief that police should spend less time in their neighborhood. That percentage trails only Asian Americans, 28%, as the minority group with the highest percentage of desire for less policing.
The American public as a whole supports the policing status quo, with 67% of U.S. adults responding in favor of current policing, including 71% of white people.
Despite wanting the police to remain in their neighborhoods, fewer than 1 in 5 black people polled feel “very confident” that the police will treat them with respect.
The poll comes as prominent Democratic politicians and media figures are calling for the disbanding or defunding of police departments in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Large cities across the country, including New York City, Los Angeles, are slashing police budgets, while Minneapolis is moving to disband the police department.
Defunding the police has become an issue in the 2020 presidential race as President Trump has voiced his opposition to defunding the police several times, while former Vice President Joe Biden has said he supports “redirecting” some police funds.
The poll was based on a web study completed by 36,463 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 1.4 percentage points.
