Memo: Black Voters Want to Revolutionize Policing in the United States
Executive Summary
Black voters lead all other voters on support for proposed solutions to police violence
This includes support for divestment from police, which 72 percent of Black voters support, and transitioning to community based safety models, with 56 percent support
Black voters agree that President Trump should resign by a 49 percentage point margin.
Black voters support a return of local control of institutions such as schools and police budgets by a 49 percentage point margin.
The protests following George Floyd’s murder have lead to wide ranging discussion on the role of police in American society. The way in which a militarized police state brutalizes and discriminates against Black Americans has, once again, been exposed.
In a June survey, in collaboration with the Movement For Black Lives, Data for Progress polled voters about their beliefs about police, police violence, the recent protests, and proposed reforms. Overall, we found high levels of support, especially among Black voters, for an overhaul to the existing system of policing in the United States. On many issues tested, Black voters were more supportive of progressive reform ideas than even the average Democrat and are leading the movement to address the issues of police violence and discrimination.
