"We often focus a lot of attention on these big racial gaps and confidence towards the police: how well they do their jobs, are they accountable, do they use too much force. What the polling data suggests is that people are far more unified when it comes to what the police should be doing." says Cato Director of Polling Emily Ekins, author of Policing in America: Understanding Public Attitudes Toward the Police.
"For instance, we asked people what they thought the top priorities of the police should be, and across racial groups and partisan groups it was the same. It was fighting violent crime, protecting you from being a victim of violent crime, and fighting property crime like robbery. The drug war was very low on that list."
Reason TV's Nick Gillespie sat down with Ekins at the International Students for Liberty Conference to discuss public opinion toward the police, criminal justice reform, and the millennial vote.
Produced by Joshua Swain. Cameras by Mark McDaniel and Todd Krainin.
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