POLL: Majority of Voters Want More Policing Amid Skyrocketing Crime
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Seventy-five percent of voters believe more police are needed on the street as crime is on the rise across the country, according to a new poll.
Just 25 percent of respondents in the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey said they do not need more policing.
Meanwhile, 72 percent of respondents said they oppose “defunding the police” and 52 percent said they support the use of “stop and frisk” in urban areas to “deter gun crime.”
Fifty-six percent said they oppose eliminating cash bail.
“Crime is becoming the next crisis in America with overwhelming numbers seeing an increase in crime and Americans want stricter not looser enforcement of laws,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey, according to The Hill.
The survey comes amid growing concern over rising crime: homicide rates in large cities rose more than 30 percent on average last year and another 24 percent in the beginning of this year, according to the New York Times.
“The voters do agree with [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on one point — now is the time to legalize marijuana, a surprising finding in contrast to the public’s views on other laws,” he said, as 57 percent of voters said marijuana should be decriminalized.
The poll of 1,788 registered voters was conducted from July 28 to 29 as part of a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll.
