Majority Of Americans Believe Police Are Behaving Appropriately Or Not Aggressively Enough, Poll Says
As protests of George Floyd’s death continue to erupt into violence and riots, a new NPR-Marist poll found that most Americans approve of the police’s handling of the situation, The Daily Caller reported.
According to the survey, which examined 1,062 adults, 56 percent of respondents believe that the police are either behaving appropriately or not being aggressive enough in handling the protests. Specifically, 18 percent of individuals surveyed said that the police were not using enough aggression. In terms of party affiliation, 43 percent of Republicans claimed that the police were not being aggressive enough, while just 2 percent of Democrats said the same. In addition, 20 percent of white respondents thought police were not adequately aggressive, compared to only 6 percent of African Americans.
Conversely, 35 percent of individuals surveyed said the police were being too aggressive in their approach to the protests. Across party lines, 55 percent of Democrats said officers used too much aggression, while just 5 percent of Republicans thought the same.
Elsewhere, Democrats and Republicans were more aligned. When pressed on whether the police were mostly acting appropriately, 35 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans said yes. In total, 38 percent of the survey’s respondents believed the police were handling the protests appropriately.
The survey comes as violent protest clips continue to spread across social media. In particular, many videos have shined a light on instances of police brutality, including an older man who was thrown to the ground by an officer in Buffalo, New York, and left in serious condition.
This is disgusting behavior by police. We must not stand for this in America. End qualified immunity. https://t.co/e9oE7p4L7b
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) June 5, 2020
A Thursday report from The Intercept claimed that police are “overwhelmingly responsible” for violence against journalists amid the protests. According to the publication, data from the United States Press Freedom Tracker reveals that the police are responsible for over 80 percent of such attacks. Specifically, of the 180 assaults the publication is investigating, 149 were at the hands of police. Notably, the numbers do not include incidents where officers arrest journalists, of which there are reportedly at least 45 such incidents.
“The police are violently attacking journalists at a rate greater than 4 to 1 when compared with private citizens. Given the out-of-control militarization of police we have seen over the past two decades, and government’s threats to increase its crackdown, that is especially terrifying. And if police departments are not held quickly accountable by state governments, it will only get worse.”
As The Inquisitr reported, the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, recently banned police officers from using neck restraints and chokeholds in the wake of Floyd’s death in the city. In addition, the city implemented a requirement for officers to intervene when they observe another officer using unauthorized force.
