As Baltimore braces for more possible violence in the wake of clashes between police and rioters, the NBC Political Unit took a look back at polling last year showing stark racial differences in perceptions of police.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in September 2014 found that less than a third – 28 percent - of African-American respondents say they’re confident that police officers in their community treat blacks and whites equally, while 69 percent of white respondents said the same.
And while 70 percent of white respondents said that they have “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence that police officers in their community will not use excessive force on suspects, just 40 percent of African-Americans agreed. Forty-three percent of black respondents replied that they have “very little” or “no” confidence that law enforcement officers will refrain from using excessive force.
- Carrie Dann