Poll: Voters trust local governments more than feds to address crime, other issues

By Andrew Rice | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A majority of Americans say the federal government should not decide policing and crime policy in their communities, according to a new poll.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, surveyed 2,565 registered voters between Oct. 2-6 through opt-in online panels and text-to-web cell phone messages.

About 22% of voters said the federal government should decide policing and crime policy, but about 70% of registered voters think either state or local governments should handle policing and crime policy.

The poll comes after President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to Washington D.C., Chicago and Portland to fight and deter crime. While crime is down in Washington D.C., court’s temporarily blocked Trump’s deployment of troops to Chicago and Portland.

About 33% of registered voters believe policing and crime policy should be decided by local governments and about 37% think it should be decided by state governments. About 8% were not sure.

Mike Noble, founder and CEO of Noble Predictive Insights, said the lack of consensus on where policing authority should reside could be a reflection of post-2020 tensions over federal oversight versus local accountability.

With Republican control of the executive branch and both chambers Congress 27% of Republicans said they trusted the federal government to handle policing and crime issues. Only 19% of Democrats said the federal government should handle policing.

Independent voters made up one of the largest portions of those who were unsure of which level of government should have responsibility for policing and crime at 13%.

About 29% of Black respondents said they trusted local governments to handle policing and crime, compared to about 33% of Hispanic or Latino respondents and 33% of white respondents.

The poll also found that voters felt more strongly about which level of government should deal with problems in their communities.

Half of registered voters said they trust local governments to make the “right decisions” regarding problems in the community, according to the poll; 48% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats and 54% of Independents agreed that local governments have the responsibility to make these decisions.

Independent voters with college degrees expressed the most trust toward local governments for handling issues in the community at 61%.

Overall, only about 10% of registered voters said they trusted the federal government in Washington to make the right decisions to solve problems in their communities.

About 14% of Republicans and 7% of Democrats said they trust the federal government to solve problems facing their communities.

Noble said the poll reflects voters having a strong grassroots trust in solving issues that matter to their communities.

“They absolutely don’t trust Washington when it comes to your local issues,” Noble said. “But when it comes to control at a local level, it’s hands down local government.”

The margin of error for the poll was 2%.