Rasmussen Reports: 49% of Voters Say Anti-Police Protests Hurt Public Safety

The RR survey results found twice as many respondents found last year’s anti-police protests to be harmful to public safety rather than helpful.

Here are some key observations from Secure 1776:

• The United States Constitution protects the right of the people to peacefully assemble and seek a redress of their grievances.
• In our article, “The Importance of Us: The Failure of Being Cast as Them,” Thomas Lemmer spoke to the essential nature for both the police and the community-at-large to view the police as among the “community of us.” Efforts that seek adherence to the rule of law and constitutional policing strengthen the police-community relationship. However, efforts that seek to divide the police from the community harm the community.
• In our article, “Tragedy-Free Policing or Else: The Need for Critical Thinking,” Lemmer further explained how some groups, with objectives other than strengthening the working relationship of the police with the larger community, sought to use tragic incidents for their own purposes. Police accountability efforts must distinguish between unintended or unavoidable tragedy and true misconduct.
• At Secure 1776, we believe as Lemmer noted, “The way forward cannot cast the policing profession into the pile of ‘them,’ as we have felt the painful lesson of weakened police-community relationships.  The way forward must be one with broad outreach across community partners. As a community, we need our elected and civic leaders to foster unifying approaches that advance constitutional policing, reduce violence, address chronic crime conditions, improve public safety, protect victims, foster wellness, and enhance community support for the police.” See our published articles on this site for more information.