Americans’ confidence in police growing after record-low year: Poll

(NewsNation) — Americans’ confidence in the police is growing, while faith in major United States institutions in general remains historically low, according to an annual Gallup poll.

Overall confidence in the police rose from 43 percent in 2023 to 51 percent in 2024, poll results show.

The 8 percentage-point jump marks the largest annual increase of any of the 17 institutions included in Gallup’s yearly update. Of those who expressed faith in the police, about 25 percent said they had “a great deal” of confidence, while 26 percent reported having “quite a lot.”

Confidence grew most among people aged 18 to 34 — up to 43 percent from 27 percent last year. Gallup also noted increased faith in police among people of color and political independents.

Americans’ confidence in the police has been hot and cold for the past several years.

Faith in the police dropped to 48 percent in 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black Minnesota resident. The slaying, captured on video, sparked nationwide outrage and protests from activists calling for reform to end police violence.

Confidence in the police again rose to 51 percent in 2021 before slipping to 45 percent in 2022 and dropping to a record low last year.  

The Gallup survey was conducted between June 3-23 with 1,005 adults ages 18 and older. The margin of error for the total sample size was plus or minus 4 percent points at the 95 percent confidence level.