Minnesota Poll results: Minneapolis Police Department and the police union
By Star Tribune
The Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 interviewed 800 Minneapolis registered voters between Aug. 10 and Aug. 12. That sample included interviews with 525 self-identified white registered voters and 146 African-American registered voters. An additional 354 interviews were conducted Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters.
Findings from questions about attitudes toward the Minneapolis Police Department and the police union are below. The margin of error for the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters is ± 3.5 percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is no more than ± 4.5 percentage points. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted and a demographic breakdown of the respondents.
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Minneapolis Police Department?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 25% 66% 9% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 25% 66% 9% Male 26% 62% 12% Female 24 69 7 White 25 68 7 Black 26 58 16 Other 23 66 11 18-34 15 80 5 35-49 19 72 9 50-64 31 56 13 65+ 39 52 9 No college degree 27 63 10 College graduate 23 68 9 DFL/ Democrat 16 76 8 Republican 73 24 3 Independent/ other 28 57 15 Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 26% 58% 16% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 26% 58% 16% Male 28% 53% 19% Female 25 62 13 Under 50 21 64 15 50+ 31 52 17 No college degree 27 57 16 College graduate 22 60 18 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 63% 15% 22% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 63% 15% 22% Male 63% 13% 24% Female 62 17 21 White 67 13 20 Black 56 20 24 Other 52 19 29 18-34 40 30 30 35-49 52 17 31 50-64 78 9 13 65+ 85 3 12 No college degree 59 17 24 College graduate 65 14 21 DFL/ Democrat 67 16 17 Republican 52 9 39 Independent/ other 57 17 26 Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 56% 20% 24% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 56% 20% 24% Male 59% 15% 26% Female 53 24 23 Under 50 43 27 30 50+ 68 14 18 No college degree 56 20 24 College graduate 53 21 26 Do you think Minneapolis police officers should or should not be required to live in Minneapolis?
Should Should not Not sure 67% 23% 10% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 67% 23% 10% Male 62% 27% 11% Female 72 18 10 White 64 25 11 Black 80 15 5 Other 63 21 16 18-34 69 25 6 35-49 65 24 11 50-64 69 22 9 65+ 65 19 16 No college degree 65 24 11 College graduate 69 22 9 DFL/ Democrat 70 19 11 Republican 39 47 14 Independent/ other 70 22 8 Should Should not Not sure 80% 15% 5% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 80% 15% 5% Male 84% 10% 6% Female 76 19 5 Under 50 78 18 4 50+ 81 12 7 No college degree 79 15 6 College graduate 81 15 4 Regarding the disciplinary process for officers accused of misconduct, do you think the Minneapolis police union has too much influence, not enough influence, or the proper amount of influence?
Too much Not enough Proper amount Not sure 78% 4% 13% 5% Too much Not enough Proper amount Not sure TOTAL 78% 4% 13% 5% Male 76% 3% 15% 6% Female 81 4 11 4 White 84 1 13 2 Black 64 18 5 13 Other 75 0 22 3 18-34 75 6 12 7 35-49 83 2 11 4 50-64 81 3 13 3 65+ 75 4 17 4 No college degree 77 5 13 5 College graduate 80 2 13 5 DFL/ Democrat 86 3 7 4 Republican 52 1 43 4 Independent/ other 72 5 15 8 Too much Not enough Proper amount Not sure 64% 18% 5% 13% Too much Not enough Proper amount Not sure TOTAL 64% 18% 5% 13% Male 63 12 7 18 Female 64 23 4 9 Under 50 60 21 5 14 50+ 67 15 6 12 No college degree 64 19 4 13 College graduate 63 12 10 15 About the poll
The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Aug. 10 to Aug. 12 with 800 Minneapolis registered voters. That sample included interviews with 525 self-identified white registered voters and 146 African-American registered voters. An additional 354 interviews were conducted Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters. This poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News and KARE 11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc. Those interviewed were randomly selected by computer from a phone-matched Minneapolis voter registration list that included both land line and cellphone numbers. For the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, 29% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 71% via cellphone. For the sample of 500 African-American registered voters, 26% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 74% via cellphone. The margin of sampling error for the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of sampling error for the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is no more than ± 4.5 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping. Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken. The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters is 62% Democrats, 10% Republicans and 28% independents or other. The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is 63% Democrats, less than 1% Republicans and 37% independents or other. The demographic profile of this poll of registered voters is an accurate reflection of their respective voter populations. This determination is based on more than 100 statewide polls conducted by Mason-Dixon in Minnesota over the past 32 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988. Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com. Demographics
PARTY DFL/ Democrat 495 (62%) Republican 79 (10%) Independent/ other 226 (28%) AGE 18-34 195 (24%) 35-49 232 (29%) 50-64 206 (26%) 65+ 163 (20%) Refused 4 (1%) RACE White/ Caucasian 525 (66%) Black/ African American 146 (18%) Hispanic/ Latino 58 (7%) Asian/ Pacific Islander 42 (5%) Other 22 (3%) Refused 7 (1%) GENDER ID Male 387 (48%) Female 411 (51%) Other 2 (<1%) EDUCATION High school
or less 170 (21%) Some college/
Vocational 178 (22%) College graduate 274 (34%) Graduate degree 171 (22%) Refused 7 (1%) INTERVIEW Land line 231 (29%) Cellphone 569 (71%) PARTY DFL/ Democrat 313 (63%) Republican 2 (<1%) Independent/ other 185 (37%) AGE 18-34 130 (26%) 35-49 119 (24%) 50-64 134 (27%) 65+ 116 (23%) Refused 1 (<1%) GENDER ID Male 227 (45%) Female 272 (54%) Other 1 (1%) EDUCATION High school
or less 192 (38%) Some college/
Vocational 204 (41%) College graduate 84 (17%) Graduate degree 19 (4%) Refused 1 (<1%) INTERVIEW Land line 131 (26%) Cellphone 369 (74%)
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