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Police officers in the U.S. find their jobs more difficult with 86 percent in large police departments hesitant to question suspicious people, according to a poll by Pew Research.
The poll questioned 8,000 law enforcement officers – conducted between May 19 and August 14 – covered a wide range of issues to investigate the impact of high profile cases where police action resulted in the death of black individuals.
The results found, “Overall, more than eight-in-ten (86%) say police work is harder today as a result of these high-profile incidents.”
Most concerning was 76 percent of police officers said they are reluctant to use force when it’s justified and that a large number of law enforcement personnel are now reluctant to stop and question suspicious individuals.
From Pew Research:
While the impact of these incidents is broadly felt, officers in larger departments are far more likely than those in small agencies to say these incidents have had an impact. For example, roughly half of officers (54%) in departments with fewer than 300 officers say their peers have become less willing to stop and question people who seem suspicious. By contrast, fully 86% of police in departments with 2,600 officers or more say fellow officers are now more hesitant to question people who look or act suspicious. Similarly, roughly nine-in-ten officers (87%) in the largest departments say that police interactions with blacks have become more tense; 61% of officers in small departments agree.
The Pew Research data supports the conclusion that the rising amount of violent crimes in urban areas is due to the “Ferguson Effect,” where police are pulling back because of public backlash that occurred in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri.
There is no doubt the Black Lives Matter propaganda from the Michael Brown incident in Ferguson is making the U.S. less safe.
