Police are losing what some might describe as the “war for legitimacy,” at least in our nation’s big cities.
According to a recent Gallup Poll, a majority of Americans do not trust law enforcement. The poll, conducted by Gallup from early June to mid-July, found that confidence in the police had fallen five points, to 48 percent.
Channeling a younger generation’s unique disdain for the police, progressive outsiders have repeatedly trounced police union-backed prosecutor candidates in big cities across the country since 2015.
Since George Floyd’s death, major mainstream news publications started running think pieces on the merits of abolishing prisons and police, including one that not too long ago ran a column scorching police and prison abolition as a “criminal conspiracy.”
The legitimacy problem was fanned by entrenched police opposition to even modest reforms, then brought to the fore with the ubiquity of smartphones with video capabilities in the 21st century.
But the solution is largely in the hands of police departments. Instead of playing politics — a game police will usually fail to win in the big cities, where their presence is needed most — police departments should focus on increasing clearance rates for rape and murder.
Rape and murder clearance rates are abysmal in our big cities, and arguments in favor of abolition seize upon this fact. Chicago’s murder clearance rate is around 45 percent, while Baltimore’s is around 40 percent. The rape clearance rate nationally is around 35 percent.
Many urban departments fare even worse.
Police leaders often attempt to blame communities by pointing out how it is harder to solve violent crime when people do not trust the police to come forward. They also point out that prevalence of gun use in murders makes matters harder, which is undeniably true.
However, those justifications ring hollow when considering that about four percent of police time is used addressing violent crime. The majority of police time is used on trifling matters that aren’t even criminal.
Instead of resisting unarmed alternative response programs for noncriminal emergency calls, or not supporting efforts to get these programs sufficient funding, police need to realize that these programs are the key to regaining community respect — because they allow a primary focus on tackling violent crime.
Just look at Japan, which has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world. The reason is not because everyone there loves and respects the police—they don’t. Aside from cultural factors, academic studies show that it is because police are nearly perfect at doing their job where it counts.
The murder clearance rate is around 95 percent, and communities appreciate that efficiency. Thus, civilians are inclined to cooperate.
Ideally, every urban police chief could tell their officers to not make a single arrest for drugs or any other nonviolent crime until the clearance rates for murder and rape are above 95 percent. While that is probably tenable due to political pressures, it represents a symbol of how departments should rethink their work.
Otherwise, the calls for abolition and defunding will just get louder and stronger.
Rory Fleming is an attorney and writer who has worked for various criminal justice organizations, including the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Harvard Law School Fair Punishment Project, and the National Network for Safe Communities. He writes from Philadelphia.
1 Comment
The reference to the Gallup poll in the second paragraph is correct but it is not the most recent poll on public confidence in the police. The most recent Gallup poll released in July 2021 shows that overall confidence increased from 48 to 51% – modest but moving in the right direction. It also showed the gap between white and black adults continues but improved from 18% in 2020 to 27% in 2021. https://news.gallup.com/poll/352304/black-confidence-police-recovers-2020-low.aspx. The police clearly have a great deal of work to do and many agencies across the country have worked diligently on improving policy, accountability and transparency. This should not be overlooked.