Americans Recognize Systemic Policing Issues

Black Lives Matter protests are continuing across the U.S. to raise awareness of systemic racism within police departments across the country. A new survey shows a vast majority of Americans agree with the underlying premise of the protests, particularly how the death of George Floyd is part of a broader institutional problem with policing in the U.S.

According to a new joint poll from Ipsos and ABC News, 74 percent of all Americans believe Floyd’s killing is a sign of broader problems in the treatment of African Americans by police in the U.S. While 94 percent of black Americans have this viewpoint, a large 70 percent of white Americans and 75 percent of Hispanic Americans also point to broad problems within the police department.

The one discrepancy came between political parties, where 92 percent of Democrats and only 55 percent of Republicans believe Floyd’s killing was a sign of broad problems in policing. The flip side, which 45 percent of Republicans subscribe to, is that Floyd’s death was an unfortunate isolated incident.

The poll also showed that 66 percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the protests in the wake of Floyd’s death. Again, the counter to this majority mostly comes from Republicans, where nearly 70 percent say they approve of Trump’s handling of the protests.