WASHINGTON, D.C. — Young people across racial and ethnic lines are more likely to say they trust Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump to handle instances of police violence against African-Americans. But young whites are more likely to say they trust Trump to handle violence committed against the police.
That’s according to a new GenForward poll of young adults age 18 to 30. The poll also suggests most young adults think requiring police to wear body cameras would help reduce violence by police.
About 6 in 10 young adults overall say violence by the police and violence against the police both are very or extremely serious problems in the United States. But views vary among those of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Thinking specifically about recent killings of black people by the police, 72 percent of African-American young people, 61 percent of Asian-Americans, 51 percent of Latinos and 40 percent of whites say they consider them part of a larger pattern, rather than isolated.
Seven in 10 young Americans say they think requiring on-duty police officers to wear body cameras would help reduce violence by police against civilians. But young African-Americans are somewhat less enthusiastic about the idea, with just over 6 in 10 saying that it would be effective.
On the other hand, both African-Americans (68 percent) and Latinos (66 percent) are more likely than whites (51 percent) to say requiring a special prosecutor to investigate cases where police kill or seriously injure civilians would be effective at preventing such deaths. Overall, 57 percent of young people think so.
Fifty-six percent of all young people say setting stricter criteria for police use of deadly force would be effective at reducing instances of violence by the police, including 68 percent of blacks and Hispanics, 61 percent of Asian-Americans and just 48 percent of whites.
Young Americans across racial and ethnic groups are more likely to trust Clinton than Trump to handle police violence against African-Americans. That’s by a 61 percent to 5 percent margin among young blacks, 58 percent to 6 percent among young Latinos, 56 percent to 8 percent among Asian-Americans, and 44 percent to 20 percent among young whites.
About a quarter in each group don’t trust either candidate to handle the issue well.
But among young whites, more trust Trump than Clinton to handle attacks against the police, 45 percent to 28 percent. Young African-Americans (54 percent to 12 percent), Latinos (45 percent to 15 percent) and Asian-Americans (45 percent to 20 percent) are more likely to trust Clinton than Trump on this.
– AP
