Americans’ confidence in the police has grown over the past year, while average confidence in other major U.S. institutions remains historically low, according to an annual Gallup poll.
Fifty-one percent of people say they have either “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the police, an increase of eight percentage points from last year.
Confidence in the police dropped to 48% in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, increased to 51% in 2021, and slipped again over the next two years, falling to a record low of 43% in 2023.
Over the past year, however, confidence in the police increased among most major demographic subgroups, including three that previously expressed low confidence in the institution: Young adults, people of color, and political independents.
Forty-three percent of adults aged 18-34 say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the police, up from 27% in 2023 — the biggest leap of any demographic subgroup.
Meanwhile, 44% of people of color and 49% of political independents express confidence in the police, an increase from last year of 13 and 12 percentage points, respectively.
Aside from the police, the only other major U.S. institutions that have the confidence of the majority of people are small businesses at 68% confidence and the military at 61%.
Television news and Congress are at the bottom of the confidence list, with the majority of U.S. adults saying they have “very little” or no confidence in the institutions.
Similarly, less than a quarter of people say they are confident in the criminal justice system, newspapers, and big business.
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Average confidence in major U.S. institutions sits at 28%, making 2024 the third consecutive year that confidence has been below 30%.
The survey was conducted between June 3-23 based on a random sample of 1,005 U.S. adults.
