Safety not inspired by police presence for most: survey
Yet Canadians generally view cops favourably
Seeing a police officer in public makes more young Canadians feel less secure than safer, and Indigenous and visible minorities of all ages are more likely to feel less safe with police around than white people, a new opinion survey suggests.
Remarkably, despite holding a largely favourable view of police, fewer than half of all respondents — regardless of age, ethnicity or region — expressed feeling more secure when they see a police officer, according to new polling by the Angus Reid Institute, a not- for- profit public opinion research group based in Vancouver.
Considering the primary purpose of policing, the large, national survey reveals a disconnect for Canada’s police agencies and highlights fractures in police relations within their local communities.
“Policing in Canada is oftentimes complex,” the institute says in its report, released Friday. “The relationship Canadians have with their police mirrors this complexity.”
Overall, Canadians generally have a favourable view of the police in their community: 74 per cent of respondents said they view officers “favourably” or “very favourably,” while 21 per cent see police “unfavourably” or “very unfavourably.”
A breakdown of the demographics behind the overall figures shows that older Canadians love their cops, especially white seniors.
Favourable views rose and negative views dropped with age. Of those 65 years of age or older, 86 per cent held a positive view and only 11 per cent a negative one.
People aged 18 to 34, regardless of race, had a far lower opinion.
Barely half of the young people ( 51 per cent) landed on the favourable side while 37 per cent landed on the unfavourable side.
“Notably, Indigenous respondents and those who identify as a visible minority are slightly more likely than Caucasians to hold an unfavourable view of their community police,” the report says.
“That said, the vast majority in all groups say they view the police favourably. This does not, however, mean that these same respondents do not think that there is a systemic issue with how police interact with members of minority groups.”
Of Indigenous respondents, 25 per cent expressed a negative view, as did 24 per cent of visible minority respondents and 20 per cent of white respondents.
While young Canadians over all feel much more threatened by police presence than older ones, young visible minority and young Indigenous respondents are more likely to feel less safe when police are around than white youth.
(The survey showed 39 per cent of visible minority youth said they felt less secure around a cop, 35 per cent of Indigenous youth, and 30 per cent of white youth.)
Discontent with police is more evident in Canada’s bigger cities than in rural areas.
“Urban Canadians are about 40 per cent more likely to view police unfavourably than those in rural areas,” the report says.
The highest unfavourable rating was found in Montreal, with 29 per cent holding a net unfavourable view with 67 per cent a net favourable view, followed by Vancouver ( 27 per cent unfavourable and 69 per cent favourable) and Winnipeg ( 26 per cent unfavourable and 70 per cent favourable).
Of those in Toronto, 24 per cent expressed an unfavourable and 69 per cent favourable view. Regina, on the other hand, had a high of 84 per cent saying they had a favourable view to 16 per cent an unfavourable one.
Two t hi r ds of respondents had at least one “direct interaction” with police in the last five years. Notably, the older cohort, those who most like police, had the fewest direct interactions with an officer.
“Indigenous respondents are most likely to say that their experiences have been negative. Three-in-ten (29 per cent) say this, compared to one-quarter of visible minorities (25 per cent) and one-infive Caucasians (20 per cent),” the report says.
The public opinion survey is the first of a two- part exploration of perspectives on policing in Canada. The second part, looking at issues of defunding police and systemic racism in policing, is scheduled for next week, according to the institute.
From Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, a representative, randomized sample of 5,005 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum were questioned through an online survey.
The institute said the survey was commissioned and funded internally.
VAST MAJORITY IN ALL GROUPS SAY THEY VIEW THE POLICE FAVOURABLY.