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Views on policing and public force

Source reportMethodology

Overview

Adults showed the strongest support for targeted officer-removal policies. Roughly 48% selected removing officers with repeated excessive-force complaints, and 40% selected removing officers with extremist or paramilitary ties.

Direct reported exposure was less common. About 19% said they or someone in their family had experienced violent police force, while 81% said they had not.

Topline

48% supported removing officers with repeated excessive-force complaints.

Which, if any, of the following proposals to address policing do you support? Select all that apply

  • Betting police departments to remove officers with multiple previous excessive use of force complains 47.9%
  • Betting police departments to remove officers with ties to extremist or paramilitary groups 39.5%
  • None of the above 33.0%
  • Reallocating funds from police departments to invest in community social services 23.4%
  • Reallocating funds from police departments to funding trauma centers 18.5%
  • Reallocating funds from police departments to invest in minority communities 17.9%

2022 · base n 1,163 · +/- 3.0%

Verasight National AAPOR Omnibus Survey

View source data

Targeted accountability proposals led the policing list

Roughly 48% of adults supported removing officers with multiple previous excessive-use-of-force complaints. About 40% supported removing officers with ties to extremist or paramilitary groups.

Those were the two strongest policing proposals in the list. They were also more selected than "none of the above," which was chosen by 33%.

Reallocating police funds drew less support

Support was lower for reallocating police funds. About 23% selected community social services, 19% selected trauma centers, and 18% selected minority communities.

Dissolving police unions was selected by about 10%, the lowest selected policing proposal in the set.

Headline

19% reported personal or family exposure to violent police force.

Have you or someone in your family ever been the victim of violent use of force by police?

80.7% no

2022 · base n 1,163 · +/- 3.0%

Verasight National AAPOR Omnibus Survey

View source data

Additional supporting data from this section.

Headline

64% would prohibit private profit from military weapons.

Should the manufacture and sale of military weapons for private profit be prohibited?

63.9% yes

2022 · base n 1,163 · +/- 3.0%

Verasight National AAPOR Omnibus Survey

View source data

Most adults did not report direct family exposure

About 19% of adults said they or someone in their family had been the victim of violent police force. Roughly 81% said they had not.

The broader public-force pattern also included majority support for prohibiting private profit from military weapons manufacturing and sales. Roughly 64% said yes, while 36% said no.

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Population
US adults age 18+
Field dates
2022-05-28 → 2022-06-01
Base (unweighted)
1,163
Margin of error
+/- 3.0%
Module
2022 Verasight National AAPOR Omnibus Survey
Sponsor
Verasight
Weight variable
weight
Weighting targets
age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

Sources

[3]
  • 01
    Which, if any, of the following proposals to address policing do you support? Select all that applyAnchors the topic in support for policing reform proposals.reports.verasight.io/reports/2022-verasight-national-aapor-omnibus-survey
  • 02
    Have you or someone in your family ever been the victim of violent use of force by police?Adds reported personal or family exposure to violent police force.reports.verasight.io/reports/2022-verasight-national-aapor-omnibus-survey
  • 03
    Should the manufacture and sale of military weapons for private profit be prohibited?Adds a broader public-force and weapons-policy attitude.reports.verasight.io/reports/2022-verasight-national-aapor-omnibus-survey

Citation

2022 Verasight National AAPOR Omnibus Survey, fielded May 28-June 1, 2022, N=1,163 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.0%.

https://reports.verasight.io/reports/2022-verasight-national-aapor-omnibus-survey#which-if-any-of-the-following-proposals-to-address-policing-do-you-support-select-all-that-apply

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. Each wave's specific field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that wave's report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
Every wave is published as a standalone report at verasight.io/reports with full instrument and methodology.
Transparency
AAPOR transparency standards.

Wave-specific methodology, full weighting variable lists, and verbatim instrument text live in each report at verasight.io/reports.