WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five years after George Floyd’s death focused national attention on race and policing practices, Black Americans’ perceptions of some aspects of policing in their communities show signs of improvement. However, they continue to trail the national average and White Americans.
As part of its coverage of Black Americans' experiences, the Gallup Center on Black Voices has tracked several measures about local policing in the U.S. since 2021. These include questions about confidence in local police, satisfaction with the relationship between local police and the community where they serve, treatment of community members by police, and expectations of treatment from police.
The most recent results, aggregated from four quarterly 2024 web polls, show at least modest upticks in Black Americans’ positivity about their local police. Meanwhile, views of all adults nationally and among White Americans (the group with the highest positive assessments across all races and ethnicities) have been generally stable at a higher level than for Black adults. Although Black Americans’ positive impressions of each measure have been at the majority level since 2021, the latest readings are the highest recorded or in line with the highest.
Confidence in Local Police
Black adults’ confidence in their local police force is up six percentage points since last year, to 64%, the highest point in four years of measurement, while confidence among White adults is 77% and 74% among all U.S. adults. In Gallup’s measurements since 2021, Black adults’ confidence was lowest in 2022, at 55%.
Satisfaction With Relationship Between Local Police and Community
Separately, Gallup finds that 64% of Black adults are satisfied with the relationship between the police and their local community, which has edged up three points since 2023 and five points since the low point in 2022. U.S. adults’ satisfaction with local police’s relationship with their community is 76%, while White adults’ is 81%.
Belief That Local Police Treat People Like Them Fairly
At 67%, Black Americans’ belief that local police treat people like them fairly is four points higher than in 2023 and up nine points since 2022. Still, those improved figures are 18 points lower than all Americans (85%) and more than 20 points lower than White Americans (90%).
Expectations of an Encounter With Local Police
Three-quarters of Black adults in the U.S. think police in their area would treat them with courtesy and respect if they were to have an interaction, which is an improvement from the previous 69% to 71% range for the group. This compares to the latest 87% and 91% readings among all U.S. adults and White adults, respectively.
Younger Black Adults More Skeptical Than Older Counterparts
Black adults in each age group are less likely than all adults nationally and White adults to hold positive beliefs about local police, but Black adults aged 65 and older are more positive than those aged 18-39 and 40-64.
Additional Gallup telephone polling earlier this year found a majority of Americans continue to express dissatisfaction with race relations in the U.S.; however, worry about the issue has returned to the lower level seen prior to Floyd’s murder that touched off widespread protests in 2020. Meanwhile, Americans’ perceptions of the honesty and ethics of police officers were at their lowest point historically in late 2024. Although racial tension still exists in the U.S., concern about it as the most important issue facing the country has faded as other national problems have overtaken it.
Implications
Five years after Floyd’s murder by former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin catalyzed a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice and policing, Gallup’s latest findings suggest a slow but meaningful shift in Black Americans’ perceptions of local law enforcement. While confidence and satisfaction levels among Black adults remain below those of White Americans, they have improved across multiple measures: confidence in local police, satisfaction with community relations and expectations of fair treatment.
Despite these improvements, age and racial gaps remain, with younger Black adults being the least likely to believe they will be treated fairly or respectfully by the police. These divides may reflect differing life experiences. The modest gains among Black adults suggest efforts to rebuild trust in law enforcement are having some effect but are difficult to eradicate.
Notably, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced its decision to dismiss federal oversight agreements with the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments that were established in response to the deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor. These cities have said they intend to adhere to the commitment without federal involvement.
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