Only 41% of Americans Believe Police Treat Black, White People Equally, Poll Shows

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Only 41% of Americans think that police treat black and white people equally, and just 39% believe officers have adequate training to avoid the use of excessive force, a poll showed on Friday.

"Following the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by Memphis police on Jan. 7, just 39 percent of adults in the national survey are confident that the police in this country are adequately trained to avoid the use of excessive force. And just 41 percent are confident the police treat Black and white people equally," the pollster said.

Both are record lows since these questions were first asked in similar polls nearly a decade ago.

In 2014, these figures were at 54% and 52%, respectively.

Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, died three days after an altercation with five Memphis police officers, who were also black, in January following a traffic stop. All the five officers have been fired and charged with second-degree murder.

The poll showed a big gap between people of different races in relation to the police. While a little bit less than half of white Americans think that the police treat blacks and whites equally, only 12% of African Americans and 33% of Hispanics share this opinion.

"Notably, while 33 percent of white people and 32 percent of Hispanic people are not confident at all that the police treat Black and white people equally, this soars to 72 percent among Black people," the survey read.

Only every fifth black American is confident that the police are trained enough to avoid the use of excessive force. A total of 46% of white people and 34% of Hispanics have the same opinion, the poll added.

The poll also found big differences depending on party affiliation. Seventy-two percent of Republicans are confident in the police, but only 40% of independent voters and just 14% of Democrats feel the same.

The poll was conducted from January 27-February 1 based on phone interviews with a random national sample of 1,003 adults.