Three in four Americans (76%) say they have “a great deal” of respect for the police in their area, up 12 percentage points from last year and just one point away from the all time high. The poll was taken from October 5-9, 2016.
In addition to the large majority of Americans expressing “a great deal” of respect for their local police, 17% say they have “some” respect while 7% say they have “hardly any.”
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Gallup has asked this question nine times since 1965. The percentage who say they respect the police is significantly higher now than in any measurement taken since the 1990’s and is just one point below the high of 77% recorded in 1967. Solid majorities of Americans have said they respect their local law enforcement in all polls conducted since 1965.
In contrast, Americans’ trust and confidence in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly” has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. This is down eight percentage points from last year and only beat by America’s opinion of Congress which is at 18%.
