CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A newly released survey of Chicagoans’ attitudes toward police suggests that only half the city believes officers are trustworthy.
The survey was taken over months and into February, before the COVID-19 pandemic overtook the U.S. and before the Black Lives Matter movement was revived by the death of George Floyd.
The information was compiled by the independent monitor overseeing the court-approved reforms for Chicago Police Department.
One thing this survey suggests, the monitor says, is that different races have different responses to this statement: “Police make my neighborhood safer.”
Seventy-seven percent of whites agreed. Sixty-seven percent of the Latinx population agreed. Only 47 percent of Blacks agreed, and only 34 percent of Black men aged 18 to 25 agreed.
The monitor says the latter disparity is “alarming.” Survey results are a baseline that will be compared with surveys every other year moving forward.