Young Adults Most Likely to Favor Decreased Police Spending

A new survey showed 42 percent of U.S. adults were in favor of keeping police spending at the same level across the country. However, those in favor of cuts to spending were predominantly Black and young Americans.

According to a new survey from Pew Research Center, 42 percent of Black respondents and 45 percent of respondents between the ages of 18-29 were in favor of decreasing police spending by either a little or a lot. That’s compared to just 21 percent and 24 percent of white and Hispanic adults, respectively, and 28 percent, 17 percent and 13 percent of those in the age groups of 30-49, 50-64 and over 65, respectively. In total, just 25 percent of all respondents said they were in favor of decreasing police spending in any way.

Democrats and Republicans were unsurprisingly split on the issue. Just 8 percent of Republicans were in favor of cutting police spending compared to 41 percent of Democrat respondents. Democrats, however, were equally split among more specific demographics. While 57 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18-49 were in favor of police spending cuts, just 28 percent of Democrats over the age of 50 said the same – with 71 percent either in favor of spending staying the same or increasing. 43 percent and 42 percent of white and Black Democrats were in favor of decreased spending, while just 32 percent of Hispanic Democrats were in favor of cuts.