Most Americans support police reforms -poll

Most Americans, including a majority of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, support sweeping law enforcement reforms such as a ban on chokeholds and racial profiling after the latest death of an African American while in police custody, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Thursday.

This report produced by Chris Dignam.

As protesters continue to condemn police brutality and racism nationwide following the death of George Floyd, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released Thursday showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans, including most of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, support sweeping law enforcement reforms. Eighty-two percent of Americans want to ban police from using chokeholds, and 83% want to ban racial profiling.

Ninety-two percent want federal police to be required to wear body cameras, and 91% support allowing independent investigations of police departments that show patterns of misconduct.

The poll showed bipartisan support for many proposals put forth by Democratic lawmakers in recent days for changes to police departments in the United States.

The White House and Republican lawmakers are preparing their own plans for changes in policing, though they are expected to fall short of the deep reforms being sought by Democrats in Congress.

Trump, who has been trying to win back suburban voters by positioning himself as a "law-and-order" president, has called on states to crack down on unrest, and previously said he could use military forces if protests are not quelled.

Trump has also tried to tie Democrats to calls for "defunding the police" by activists on the left.

But the poll found that rank-and-file Republicans appear to be mostly supportive of the proposals recently unveiled by Democratic lawmakers.

And 76% of all respondents said they supported moving "some money currently going to police budgets into better officer training, local programs for homelessness, domestic violence, and mental health assistance."