Most Americans Don't Have Faith In U.S. Police Departments

There was a time in this country when some of the most respected organizations were the nation's police departments. But thanks to the militarization of those departments (even in small cities), the attitude by many officers of "us" against "them" (displayed by the violent tactics they use against peaceful demonstrations), and the rude behavior displayed by many police (like the NYPD turning their backs on their mayor), a lot of that respect for police departments seems to be disappearing.

The charts in this post were made from a YouGov Poll -- done between December 6th and 8th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, with about a 4 point margin of error. Police Departments across this country should take these poll numbers to heart and do something about it, because it shows a sharp drop in the amount of faith the public has in all those departments.

Only about 34% (or about a third) of the public thinks police departments do a good job of dealing with police misconduct. They think that the misconduct is dismissed or covered up far too often, and bad cops are allowed to remain on the job. And that extends across all demographic groups (except Republicans). And only a slightly higher percentage (40%) think police treat all races and ethnicities equally. A majority of Americans now understand that Whites are treated differently than minority groups.

Those numbers should be troubling to police departments, but there is another number that should be just as troubling. Only about half (49%) of Americans now think the police do a good job of protecting the public from crime -- the reason police departments were created. I think some of this must be blamed on the erroneous belief of many officers. A lot of them think their job is to punish criminals -- but their real job is to prevent crime (and they need to be reminded of that).

I included one more chart in this post (the one below), because I thought it was interesting and somewhat encouraging. Fully two-thirds (66%) of Americans realize that racism is still a serious problem in the United States. And that view also cuts across all demographic lines (except Republicans).

NOTE -- Let me make one more observation. Republicans will tell you that their party doesn't have a problem with a lot of their members being racists, but this poll shows something different. Note that GOP members differ from all other groups, with 61% saying police departments do a good job of handling misconduct, 71% saying police treat all races and ethnicities equally, and only a minority of 46% believing racism is still a serious problem.

Most racists fled the Democratic Party to the Republican Party after President Johnson signed the civil rights laws. That allowed them to gain a majority in the South, but it also made them the party of racism -- and that's a legacy they now have to live with.