Pro-police demonstrators stand outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department last weekend. Jeff Roberson/AP
Americans Think Feds Are Doing More Harm Than Good for Local Cops
Survey finds voters -- especially Republicans -- do not think the federal government is helping community police forces.
Just 15 percent of the American voting population thinks federal agencies make it easier for local police to do their jobs, according to a new survey.
About four in 10 respondents said federal government involvement actually makes it harder on local police, while 30 percent said feds have no impact, according to Rasmussen Reports.
Republican respondents were particularly skeptical of the federal government’s role in assisting local police, Rasmussen found. More than 60 percent of Republicans said feds make local cops’ jobs harder, while just 6 percent said they made it easier. In contrast, just 19 percent of Democrats blamed the federal government for burdening local police.
Even among government employees, just one in five said federal workers positively assist local cops. About 64 percent said they have no impact or are harmful.
The survey was conducted in the wake of a Justice Department probe into the controversial death of Michael Brown at the hands of local police in Ferguson, Mo. Just 30 percent of all respondents said that report -- which found widespread racial bias at the Ferguson Police Department -- was likely to “lead to a reduction in crime in Ferguson over the next five years,” according to the survey.
The federal government’s role in local policing also came under fire in recent months as critics pointed to the Defense Department’s seemingly excessive sales of military equipment to community forces.
Rasmussen polled 1,000 likely voters between March 12 and March 15, with a margin of error of 3 percent.