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Poll: Most Minneapolis residents approve of Chief Arradondo, but not MPD as a whole

A new KARE 11/MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll finds 63% of Minneapolis voters have a favorable view of the chief, but just 25% view MPD favorably.

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

Credit: KARE

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%).

Credit: KARE
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo speaks to reporters on June 10, 2020.

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?

Credit: KARE

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

Credit: KARE

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.

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