The Polls—Trends Confidence in Law Enforcement

Abstract

Public confidence in law enforcement remains high but showed some signs of slight decline from the late 1990s to the middle of this decade. Confidence in law enforcement fluctuated some in apparent response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 and has not been particularly strong when viewed through a racial lens. In keeping with falling crime rates through the first part of this decade followed by a recent rise, the percentage of the public that believed anticrime spending to be too little declined slightly from the late 1990s to 2005 but rebounded in 2006.