Gallup Poll Shows Nonwhites have No Confidence in Racist Police

Gallup

As a grand jury decides whether to indict a white police officer for shooting an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri, Americans' confidence in their local police to protect them from violent crime continues to differ by race, as it has since Gallup started measuring it. White Americans (60%) surveyed last month expressed more trust in police than nonwhites did (49%), although the 11-percentage-point gap is slightly smaller than the average 14-point gap seen since 1985.

Since 1985, Gallup has generally found double-digit differences between the percentages of U.S. whites and nonwhites who say they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the ability of their local police to protect them. Just three times -- in 1985, 1989 and 1998 -- has the gap been below 10 percentage points.

Confidence in police protection plummeted to its lowest on record for both whites (47%) and nonwhites (33%) in 1993 -- months after two police officers were given 30-month prison sentences for violating the civil rights of Rodney King and arresting him with excessive force. However, even as confidence has since increased among both groups, a significant gap has persisted.

Although there have been high-profile shootings of unarmed black teenagers in recent years, the current 11-point gap between white and nonwhite opinions is narrower than in most years. The difference between whites' and nonwhites' views has ranged from four to 25 points, with the largest gap in 2001.

Current confidence in police protection among nonwhites -- which encompasses Hispanics and other communities of color -- is just a few points off from the average since 1985, suggesting that it has not seen any significant improvements over the past three decades.