Washington, DC - A poll, commissioned by the Fraternal Order of the Police and conducted by Morning Consult, shows that a vast majority of registered voters—81%—describe crime as a major problem in our country. Crime and personal safety are a top concern of 79% of these voters. This poll also revealed that 61% of these voters would rate the performance of police in their communities as excellent or good, and 3 in 4 of the voters surveyed agree that police officers do their jobs regardless of skin color, gender, or other factors.

“It is good to see that, despite everything we have been through in the last decade, most people recognize the good work of their local law enforcement agencies,” said FOP National President Patrick Yoes. “What’s more, we’re seeing that politicians and public officials who don’t support public safety will lose votes.”

The poll also showed that 72% of registered voters trust organizations “like the Fraternal Order of Police a lot or some,” and 43% of these voters say knowing a nominee or candidate for office has the endorsement of the FOP makes them more likely to support them.

Yoes pointed to the stalled nomination of Gigi B. Sohn to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as an example. At the time this poll was conducted, Ms. Sohn was the only nominee the FOP actively opposed.

“In the poll, 65% of voters had no opinion on this nominee. But after seeing information and social media posts about her extreme positions on policing issues, 6 in 10 said they would be less likely to support the nomination,” Yoes said. “For those who say Ms. Sohn’s nomination will impact their vote in the Senate’s midterm elections, 60% say they are more likely to vote for a Republican candidate—which is very significant in States like Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, and Washington.”

“Crime is a major national problem and our citizens are going to vote for candidates who support our efforts to make communities safer and who support pro-active and community-oriented policing strategies to get crime and violence under control,” Yoes concluded. “We should have no patience for public officials who undermine the work of law enforcement agencies, especially when crime and violence are impacting so many people.”