The Volokh Conspiracy

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Volokh Conspiracy

More Policing, Same Amount of Policing, or Less Policing?

A new poll reports on attitudes on this subject, broken down by race.

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From a Gallup Poll released yesterday:

Preference for Amount of Time Police Spend in Your Area
Would you rather the police spend more time, the same amount
of time or less time as they currently spend in your area?

 More time  Same amount of time  Less time
 %  % %
Black Americans 20 61 19
White Americans 17 71 12
Hispanic Americans 24 59 17
Asian Americans 9 63 28
U.S. adults 19 67 14
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Of course, this doesn't tell us what police should be doing—or, more importantly, how they should be doing it. But it does bear a bit on the "defund the police" controversy.

There are lots of other interesting statistics in the poll (though I recognize that, as usual, there are possible flaws inherent in such statistical methods); read the whole thing.