Few Say Police Forces Nationally Do Well in Treating Races Equally
Source: Pew Research
Amid continuing tensions over the police shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson, Mo., most Americans give relatively low marks to police departments around the country for holding officers accountable for misconduct, using the appropriate amount of force, and treating racial and ethnic groups equally.
However, most also continue to express at least a fair amount of confidence in their local police forces to avoid using excessive force and to treat blacks and whites equally, though there are large racial gaps in opinion here as well as in views of police performance nationally. Public confidence in community police in these areas has not changed substantially since 2009.
The new national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY, conducted August 20-24 among 1,501 adults, finds that overall perceptions of relations between blacks and whites are only modestly changed from five years ago.
Currently, 69% of the public, including majorities of both whites (75%) and blacks (64%), say blacks and whites in this country get along “very well” or “pretty well.” Since 2009, the share of blacks with a positive view of relations between the races has fallen 12 points (from 76% to 64%) while remaining largely unchanged among whites (80% in 2009).
Read more: http://www.people-press.org/2014/08/25/few-say-police-forces-nationally-do-well-in-treating-races-equally/
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