Poll: Plurality says relations between police, people of color have gotten worse in last year

A plurality of voters said relations between the police and people of color have gotten worse in the past year, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.

Forty-five percent of registered voters surveyed said relations between police and communities of color have regressed while 43 percent said they have stayed the same.

By contrast, just 12 percent of respondents said that relations have gotten better.

Of those surveyed, 48 percent of Black voters said relations between the police and people of color have gotten worse while 32 percent said they have stayed the same and 20 percent said they have improved.

Fifty-eight percent of Hispanic voters said things have stayed the same when it came to the relationship between police and people of color while 28 percent said they’ve gotten worse and 15 percent said better.

Forty-eight percent of white voters said things have gotten worse between the police and minorities while 42 percent said they’ve stagnated and 10 percent said they’ve improved.

Pluralities of Democrats and Republicans said relations between the police and people of color have grown worse in the last year, at 50 percent and 46 percent, respectively. 

The survey comes as the country remembers the murder of George Floyd on this day one year ago.

President Biden has pushed for the passage of the George Floyd policing act, which has stalled in the Senate. 

The most recent Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online among 1,899 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.25 percentage points.

—Gabriela Schulte