Nearly Two-Thirds Of Americans Oppose Defunding Police, According To New Poll

A new poll reveals that nearly two-thirds of American voters oppose defunding the police and/or at least some of the stated goals of the movement, ABC News reported.

Since George Floyd’s death, the movement to defund the police has gained traction. In some cases, municipal governments have already promised to move money from police budgets into other areas, such as social services, as previously reported by The Inquisitr.

However, not all Americans support said funding reallocations.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 64 percent of respondents oppose defunding the police, while 34 percent support it. When asked specifically about reducing police budgets and redirecting those monies into, for example, mental health care, 60 percent of those surveyed oppose these defunding measures, while 39 percent support them.

Broken down along racial lines, the contrast is even more stark. Among black Americans, 57 percent of respondents support defunding the police in general, while 64 percent support moving money from police budgets to social programs. By contrast, among white Americans, 26 percent support defunding the police in general, and 33 percent back aspects of the movement.

Among Hispanic respondents, 42 percent support both options equally.

A difference of opinion is clear when partisanship is brought into the mix, as well.

Among Democrat respondents, 55 percent support defunding the police in general, and 59 percent support redirecting that money towards social programs. Republicans surveyed, on the other hand, overwhelmingly disapprove of defunding the police, with 89 percent in opposition. Similarly, 86 percent of Republican respondents oppose moving money from police department budgets to other programs.

Among respondents identifying as independent, 67 percent oppose defunding the police in general, and 59 percent oppose moving police funds into other programs.

Political leaders, however, seem to have similar views when it comes to defunding the police — although the ways these leaders have expressed their views has differed in tone.

As Fox News reported. President Donald Trump is clear that he is in no way on board with any efforts to defund the police. The president supports the exact opposite position.

“We’re not defunding the police, in fact we’re going the opposite route. We’re going to have stronger police forces,” he said during a roundtable discussion in Dallas.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee for the 2020 election, said that he opposes defunding police, but does support holding them accountable — with federal funding ostensibly acting as a tool upholding that accountability.

“I don’t support defunding the police. I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community,” Biden said of the subject.