Black Thriving in America: 2023 (PDF download), a new report from the Payne Center for Social Justice, using data from Gallup’s Center on Black Voices, reviews these findings for the current year in the context of Black Americans’ wellbeing. The analyses featured here show that this pattern has been consistent across three years of tracking.
Black Adults Less Confident in Local Policing, Relations With Police
About seven in 10 U.S. adults in 2023, 69%, report that they are confident in their local police. Black Americans (56%) remain less confident than White Americans (74%) and Hispanic Americans (64%). These readings have been relatively steady since 2021.
Black Adults’ Confidence in Police Still 13 Points Lower Than National Average
In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force, or not? (% Yes)
Bar charts showing Americans’ confidence in local police 2021-2023. Charts show consistently lower confidence among Black adults, with majorities of less than six in 10 expressing confidence each year, compared with about seven in 10 nationally each year, two in three among Hispanic adults, and between 74% and 79% for White adults.
National adults
Black adults
Hispanic adults
White adults
2021
73%
58%
66%
79%
2022
73%
55%
67%
78%
2023
69%
56%
64%
74%
Likewise, a fairly steady 73% of U.S. adults say they are satisfied with the relationship between police and their local community. Black Americans (60%) continue to be least satisfied, compared with Hispanic Americans (65%) and White Americans (78%).
Black Americans Least Satisfied With Police-Community Relations
Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the relationship between the police and your local community?
(% Satisfied)
Bar charts of Americans’ satisfaction with police-community relations, from 2021 to 2023. Charts show lowest satisfaction for Black adults, at around six in 10 for all three years, compared with about three-quarters nationally each year. About eight in 10 White adults were satisfied, and about two in three Hispanic adults were satisfied in each year.
National adults
Black adults
Hispanic adults
White adults
2021
75%
63%
67%
81%
2022
76%
59%
68%
82%
2023
73%
60%
65%
78%
Black Americans Remain Less Optimistic About Police Treatment
Black Americans’ perceptions that their local police treat people like them fairly, which dipped slightly to 54% in 2022, has recovered this year to 61%. However, Black Americans remain less likely than Hispanic Americans (72%) and, especially, White Americans (90%) to say police treat people like them fairly.
Similarly, Black Americans’ views that police would treat them with courtesy and respect in an interaction (71%) continues to fall well below the national average (85%), as well as the percentages among Hispanic Americans (78%) and White Americans (90%).
Black Americans Least Optimistic About Fair, Respectful Treatment by Police
Bar charts showing Americans’ opinions about fair and respectful treatment by police (two questions), 2021-2023 results. Charts indicate Black adults are least likely to agree that the police treat them fairly (61% in 2023 say this, versus 83% nationally and about seven in 10 Hispanic adults and nine in 10 White adults. The 61% among Black adults is up from 54% in 2022 but was 59% in 2021. On the question about treating people with courtesy and respect in the event of an interaction, about seven in 10 Black adults say they would expect this kind of treatment, compared with 85% nationally, about eight in 10 Hispanic adults and nine in 10 White adults. For this question, the percentages among each group have been relatively stable during the three years.
Do local police treat people like you fairly or unfairly? (% Fairly)
National adults
Black adults
Hispanic adults
White adults
2021
82%
59%
73%
89%
2022
84%
54%
74%
91%
2023
83%
61%
72%
90%
If you had an interaction with police in your area, do you think they would treat you with courtesy and respect, or not?
(% Yes, with courtesy and respect)
National adults
Black adults
Hispanic adults
White adults
2021
84%
67%
77%
91%
2022
86%
68%
80%
91%
2023
85%
71%
78%
90%
Desire for Major Police Reform Greatest Among Black Americans
A slim majority of U.S. adults (53%) think “major” changes are needed to policing in the United States. This figure is 20 percentage points higher for Black Americans, while White Americans continue to be least likely to agree that major changes are needed (48%).
Although support for major police reform has remained steady among Black adults since 2021, there was a drop in support in 2022 among U.S. adults overall (from 57% down to 50%), and for both Hispanic (62% versus 54%) and White adults (51% versus 44%). For Hispanic and White adults, the percentages favoring “major” police reform are higher in 2023 than in 2022, but not as high as the 2021 readings.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jbT4j/8/
Adults who have less-favorable opinions toward local policing are more likely to endorse major police reform. For example, 82% of Black adults who are dissatisfied with police-community relations where they live endorse major changes to policing, while 66% of Black adults who are satisfied say the same.
Implications
With the increased salience of discussions of police mistreatment, police reform has been even more fiercely debated, and several states have attempted to make changes to improve police practices and transparency. In light of this, the MacArthur Foundation has launched a national Safety and Justice Challenge to reimagine criminal justice at large. Attitudes toward policing remain an important barometer of the need for and success of police reforms.
It is also a matter of safety. Black Americans who report that they have confidence in their local police force are more likely to say they feel safe in other ways too. Nearly seven in 10 Black Americans who have confidence in their local police force say they feel safe walking alone at night where they live, compared with four in 10 Black Americans who do not have confidence in their local police force.
A sense of safety and justice are critical to the welfare of Black America (PDF download). Lingering disparities in feelings toward day-to-day protections should be a concern: These basic needs that all humans share are not yet met equitably in this nation. All Americans should be able to rely on police as a safeguard for their communities
