New Poll Shows More Americans Want Increased Spending On Police

According to a new Pew Research Center poll, the number of Americans who want more spending on police is increasing, standing in stark contrast to the ‘defund the police’ calls a year ago.

The Pew Research Center survey was conducted Sept. 13-19.

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More Americans Now Want Spending On Police Compared To 2020

“Support for reducing spending on police has fallen significantly: 15% of adults now say spending should be decreased, down from 25% in 2020,” Pew noted. “And only 6% now advocate decreasing spending a lot, down from 12% who said this last year. At the same time, 37% of adults now say spending on police should stay about the same, down from 42% in 2020.”

Pew tracked a big change from attitudes a year ago on these issue.

“The share of adults who say spending on policing in their area should be increased now stands at 47%, up from 31% in June 2020,” Pew observed. “That includes 21% who say funding for their local police should be increased a lot, up from 11% who said this last summer.”

These findings come in the wake of growing public concern over violent crime nationally.

In July 2021, 61 percent of adults in July 2021 said violent crime is a big problem. In 2020, that number was only 41 percent. 

An FBI report released last month revealed that that homicides were up nearly 30 percent from 2020.

That jump represents the biggest increase in a year on record.

Pew also noted that 49 percent of Whites, 46 percent of Hispanics, 38 percent of Blacks and 37 percent of Asians say spending on police needs to rise. 

“Black adults (23%) are more likely to say that police funding should be decreased than those who are White (13%) or Hispanic (16%),” Pew reported. “Some 22% of Asian adults say spending should be reduced, which is statistically higher than the share among White adults but not higher than the share among Hispanic adults.”

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Age Gap Widens

The age gap regarding these views has also widened.

Pew reported, “The age gap in views about police funding has widened since 2020, mainly because views have shifted more dramatically among those ages 50 and older.”

“The share of adults in this age group who say police spending should be increased has jumped 22 percentage points since 2020 (from 37% to 59%), while the increase has been more modest among those younger than 50 (from 26% to 36%),” Pew noted.

“Both age groups have seen a drop-off in support for reduced spending on local police,” Pew reported. “These age patterns are similar among White and Black adults, as well as across parties.”