ARLINGTON, Virginia – The American Police Officers Alliance has released its National Police Week survey results. They captured 238 surveys while they were in attendance in Washington D.C.
The first question asked on the survey was if they believe elected officials are doing enough to support our police officers in terms of providing safety equipment. An overwhelming 81.9% said “no” while 11.3% said “yes.” The rest of the voters were “not sure.” In many communities it is up to elected officials as to whether or not funding is available to provide safety equipment to law enforcement departments. In return, injuries and deaths are increased among officers.
The second question was if they approve or disapprove of how Congress handles law enforcement issues. Sixty-one-point-three percent of people “disapprove” while 32.4% were “neutral.” The rest of the voters were “approve.” We found this to be ironic as we were in Washington D.C. for such event.
The third question was what their level of approval of how state government handles law enforcement issues. These results were literally all over the board with 32.9% being the highest of disapprove, 28.3% approve, 19% strongly disapprove and 16.9 had no opinion. This, too, was interesting and reassuring that we were not getting surveys from the same states as we were getting quite the variety.
The fourth question was if they believe officers receive adequate training to respond appropriately to situations. The answers for this question were tight as 49.6% said “no” while 45% said “yes.” The rest were “not sure.” This goes back to whether or not elected officials provide safety equipment. If they don’t fund safety equipment then they probably don’t fund adequate training for the officers either. This, too, is easily swept under the rug.
The fifth question on the survey was if they believe political leadership is responsible for ensuring police officer performance. These answers were even tighter with 45.4% answered “no” while 44.1% answered “yes.” The leftover 10.5% said “not sure.”
As for the trust level of police officers, the sixth question asked what their level of trust was for police officers. The answer “strongly trust” was chosen by 79.5% of those surveyed. Eighteen percent was “trust” while the others chose “no opinion” and “do not trust.” Not one single person who was surveyed chose “strongly do not trust.”
The next question on the survey pertained to demographics. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed were male, 26.4% were female and the rest “preferred not to answer.” Law enforcement is predominately male; however, overall, there was a good representation by the female law enforcement community as well.
People from one-hundred ninety-seven different zip codes took the survey to provide this data.
The American Police Officers Alliance is a national political organization organized under Section 527. Supporters are made up of police, citizens, organizations and public supporters working together to ensure our nation’s finest and our citizens have a unified voice in politics. To contribute to American Police Officers Alliance, visit https://americanpoliceofficersalliance.com.
Contact American Police Officers Alliance:
Daniel D. Stuebs
Executive Director
[email protected]
