Americans’ respect for police at 49-year high

Americans’ respect for police has reached its highest level in nearly 50 years.

More than three in four Americans, or 76 percent, have a “great deal of respect’’ for the police who patrol their communities, according to a Gallup poll taken in October.

This is the highest figure reported by Gallup since 1967.

Gallup found an increase in respect for local police among all of the groups they broke down, regardless of racial demographic, political leaning, age group or whether people lived in big cities, suburbs or rural areas.

One of the biggest increases Gallup reported was among the youngest group they surveyed, people between the ages of 18 and 34. Nearly 70 percent of people in that group said they had a great deal of respect for police, up 19 points from a year earlier.

These numbers represent a growing increase in the number of Americans who report they have a great deak if respect.

In October 2014, 61 percent of Americans said they had this amount of respect for police. That figure inched up to 64 percent in October 2015 and then spiked to 76 percent this month.

Read more about the survey here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/25/american-respect-for-police-reaches-highest-level-in-50-years/?utm_term=.80a82d0a216e