Voters Support Holding Police Accountable
By Kelsey Wright and Ethan Winter
Police have responded with violence in the face of demonstrations across the country in the past days. Their brutality--a clear attempt to suppress protests against their very conduct--has been well documented and led to petitions, calling for accountability.
Though some officers have been arrested for their conduct, notably two officers who pushed an elderly man to the ground in Buffalo, one impediment to holding them accountable is the practice of “qualified immunity.” This practice prevents in most instances government officials from being sued for actions performed in their official capacity.
As part of a June survey, Data for Progress polled voters about their beliefs about police, police violence, the recent protests, and proposed reforms. One of the items we tested included a proposal that would strip police officers of their qualified immunity protections if they initiated violence against otherwise peaceful protests.
We found high levels of support for this proposal. Among all voters, limiting the practice of qualified immunity enjoyed a 43-percentage-point margin of support. Support for this proposal is also bipartisan (64 percent oppose, 21 percent oppose). Voters who self-identify as Democrats support it by a 55-point margin (73 percent support, 18 percent oppose) while Republicans do so by a 31-point margin (58 percent support, 27 percent oppose).
The move to end qualified immunity is catching one. In a separate blog, we showed that there’s plurality support for ending the practice in its entirety and that a majority of younger voters support such a step. Indeed, members of Congress, including Representative Ayanna Pressley, have now introduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act that would halt the practice.
In the United States, people have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble. Police have worked in the past week to impinge this right. Stripping them of their qualified immunity protections in this instance represents a small step in allowing them to be held accountable for doing this.
Authorship & Methodology
Kelsey Wright is an intern at Data for Progress.
Ethan Winter @EthanBWinter is an analyst at Data for Progress. You can email him at ethan@dataforprogress.org.
From June 4 to June 6, 2020, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,352 likely voters nationally using web-panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ± 2.7 percentage points.
Question Wording
If police initiate violence against otherwise peaceful protests, do you support or oppose holding them legally accountable for doing so? In other words, they wouldn't be shielded from prosecution via "qualified immunity," which prevents government officials from being sued for actions performed in their official capacity.
Strongly support
Somewhat support
Somewhat oppose
Strongly oppose
Don’t know