MINNEAPOLIS — As leaders in the city of Minneapolis push to redefine public safety in the city following the death of George Floyd, a new survey finds strong support for Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, even as many in the city have an unfavorable view of MPD as a whole.
A new KARE 11/MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll of registered Minneapolis voters found 66% of those surveyed have an unfavorable view of the Minneapolis Police Department, while just 25% view MPD favorably. Nine percent of those polled said they had no opinion.
When the results are broken down by race, white residents (68%) had a stronger unfavorable rating for MPD than Black residents (58%) and those of other ethnicities (66%). Black residents also reported a slightly higher favorability rating (26%) than white residents (25%).
The survey found the unfavorable viewpoint was held by a majority of respondents across all age groups, with younger residents age 18-34 (80%) more likely to report unfavorable views of MPD than those 65 or older (52%).
The only group to strongly support MPD was Republican voters (73% favorable vs. 24% unfavorable), with more than three-quarters (76%) of Democrats reporting an unfavorable view of MPD.
OPINION OF CHIEF ARRADONDO
In contrast with residents' viewpoints of the department as whole, a strong majority of those polled rated Chief Medaria Arradondo favorably. The survey showed 63% of registered voters polled gave Arradondo a favorable rating, compared to 15% having an unfavorable opinion of the city's police chief. About 22% of those polled said they had no opinion.
Arradondo was viewed favorably by a majority in nearly every category, including white residents (67%), Black residents (56%), Democrats (67%), Republicans (52%), and Independents (57%).
The only demographic to give Arradondo a favorability rating below 50% was the 18-34 age group, with 40% having a favorable opinion of the chief. That number was still higher than both the unfavorable (30%) and no opinion (30%) responses.
SHOULD OFFICERS LIVE IN THE CITY?
The Minneapolis Police Department has faced questions over the years about its policy allowing officers to live outside of the city. The KARE 11/MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found a majority of Minneapolis residents (67%) said MPD officers should be required to live in the city, compared to 23% who said that should not be required.
The question received a majority of support across all demographics except Republican voters, where 39% said the city should require officers to live in Minneapolis, compared to 47% of Republicans who said they should not be required to do so.
OPINION OF POLICE UNION INFLUENCE
The poll also asked for opinions about the influence of the Minneapolis police union on the disciplinary process for officers accused of misconduct. The survey found 78% said the union has too much influence, while 13% said the union has the proper amount of influence, and 4% felt the union doesn't have enough influence.
The opinion of "too much" influence was in the majority across all demographics, and stronger among white voters polled (84%) than Black voters (64%) and other ethnicities (75%).
The KARE 11/MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll was conducted via phone by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, surveying 800 registered voters in the city of Minneapolis from Aug. 10-12, 2020. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.