More Americans say they have "a great deal of confidence" or "quite a lot of confidence" in law enforcement, reversing a downward trend that occurred in 2015 in the wake of several police shootings of unarmed blacks. Gallup's latest survey finds overall confidence in law enforcement has returned to its 25-year average high of 57 percent.
Still, the new survey finds years of bad press and national turmoil have deepened the divide in confidence that particular groups have in police. Among Hispanics, liberals and those younger than 35, the divide is the strongest.
Among Hispanics, 45 percent expressed confidence in law enforcement, down from 59 percent from 2012 to 2014. Confidence among liberals dropped 12 points, with 39 percent expressing some level of trust in law enforcement, as compared with 51 percent in Gallup's previous survey. A similar drop was seen among 18- to 34-year- olds, with 44 percent expressing confidence as compared with 56 percent in Gallup's 2014 survey. In the previous survey, 35 percent of blacks said they had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in police; that number fell to 30 percent in the most recent one.
Law enforcement began to see a significant drop in confidence following the 2014 acquittal of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman's shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin and the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ensuing protests and further shootings of black men in Ferguson, Mo., New York City and North Charleston, S.C., saw overall confidence plummet to 52 percent.
The survey's authors note that while support for law enforcement may appear to be "strong and steady," the loss of support among minorities marks a "troubling loss of confidence among key groups in U.S. society."
