Poll: 70% of Americans Oppose Racial Profiling by the Police

Protests
in Ferguson continue today over the police shooting of an
unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.

The latest Reason-Rupe
poll asked Americans what they thought about a number of
issues in the criminal justice system including their perceptions
of police abuse, accountability in police departments,
and racial
bias and injustice.

POLICE POLL RESULTS FOUND HERE

The latest poll finds fully 70 percent of Americans oppose the
use of racial profiling in police departments, while 25 percent
support this practice. Breaking these numbers down further, 48
percent strongly disapprove, 22 percent somewhat
disapprove, while 12 percent somewhat approve and 13
percent strongly approve.

The question was careful to avoid using the actual words racial
profiling, but described it as follows: “It has been reported
that some police officers stop motorists or pedestrians of certain
racial or ethnic groups because the officers believe that these
groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of
crimes. Do you approve or disapprove of this practice by the
police?”

Considerable demographic and even partisan differences emerge on
the practice of racial profiling.

While majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents
oppose the practice, Democrats are far more likely to oppose with
much stronger intensity. Fully 81 percent of Democrats oppose,
including 62 percent who strongly oppose; 17 percent
support the practice. Seventy-one percent of independents oppose,
including 48 percent who strongly oppose; 20 percent
approve.

A majority of Republicans are also opposed, but less so than
Democrats and Independents, with 55 percent opposed and only 28
percent strongly opposed. Thirty-seven percent of Republicans favor
the use of racial profiling including 22 who stronglyapprove.
It should be noted that tea party supporters are not significantly
different from regular Republicans who do not support the movement
(55 and 59 percent respectively oppose racial profiling,
respectively).

Using Reason-Rupe’s three-question screen¹ to
identify political groups, conservatives are the least likely to
oppose the use of racial profiling, although a majority still
oppose (53%). Libertarians are nearly twenty points more likely
than conservatives to oppose police use of racial profiling (69%),
and liberals and communitarians are the most likely to oppose the
practice, 83 and 79 percent respectively.

White Americans (28%) are nearly twice as likely as
African-Americans and Hispanics (14%) to approve of racial
profiling by the police. Nevertheless, strong majorities of all
racial groups oppose of the practice, 65 percent and 86 percent
respectively. In fact, fully 81 percent of
African-Americans strongly disapprove of this practice,
compared to 62 percent of Hispanics and 40 percent of white
Americans.

While all age groups disapprove of racial profiling, older
people do so with less intensity.  Fifty-three percent of
Americans under age 55 stronglydisapprove of racial profiling,
and 20 percent somewhat disapprove. However, among Americans over
55, only 40 percent strongly disapprove and 26
percent somewhat disapprove.

Many may find it troubling that those who support racial
profiling are also the most likely (64%) to believe the criminal
justice system in American treats all racial groups equally while
25 percent believe the system gives preferential treatment to white
Americans. In contrast, among those who oppose racial profiling, 53
percent believe the system is biased against minorities, and 37
percent believe all are treated equally. Overall, Americans are
divided in their perception of actual systematic
bias: 44
percent say the criminal justice system treats black and Hispanic
Americans less fairly than white Americans.
Another 45
percent say the system treats everyone equally under the law.
Similar partisan and demographic patterns emerge, but considerably
more dramatic.

The Reason-Rupe national telephone poll, executed
by Princeton Survey Research Associates International,
conducted live interviews with 1004 adults on cell phones (503) and
landlines (501) October 1-6, 2014. The poll’s margin of error
is +/-3.8%. Full poll results can be found here. including
poll toplines (pdf) 
and crosstabs (xls). 

_{Three Question Screen
Includes}¹_:

_{1) Next…as I read the following pairs of statements, please
tell me which comes closer to your own opinion. First, we need a
strong government to handle today’s complex economic problems; OR,
people would be better able to handle today’s problems within a
free market with less government involvement.}

_{2) Some people think the government should promote
traditional values in our society. Others think the government
should not favor any particular set of values. Which comes closer
to your own view?}

_{3) If you had to choose, would you rather have a smaller
government providing fewer services, or a larger government
providing more services?}