Most MD Residents Support Police Reform, Gov. Hogan: Goucher Poll

ANNAPOLIS, MD — While the heated election season is in full swing, most Marylanders agree that Gov. Larry Hogan is doing a good job and they approve of the way he's leading the state.

The Goucher College Poll asked Maryland residents their views on various statewide issues, including the direction of and most important issue facing the state and their view of Gov. Larry Hogan. Residents were also asked their views on police, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Democratic and Republican parties, and several police reform proposals.

Gov. Hogan and Perceptions of Maryland

Seventy-one percent of Marylanders approve of the job Hogan is doing as governor, 23 percent disapprove, and 5 percent say they don’t know.

Sixty-three percent say Maryland is heading in the right direction and 31 percent say Maryland is off on the wrong track.

Thirty percent of Marylanders identify the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic as the most important issue facing the state of Maryland today.

Twenty-two percent say economic issues and 8 percent of Marylanders identify education as the most important.

The Goucher College Poll surveyed 1,002 Maryland adults from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, 2020, and it has a margin of sampling error of +/3.1 percent. Results by voter registration and other key demographics are provided.

Opinions Toward Police, Police Reforms, and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Residents were asked whether they support or oppose several police reforms currently being proposed in Maryland and around the country.

• 87 percent support creating a record of police misconduct cases that would be available to the public and other law enforcement agencies, 10 percent oppose.
• 85 percent support requiring that criminal misconduct charges against police officers be investigated by an independent state prosecutor rather than by internal police affairs, 10 percent oppose.
• 82 percent support requiring police officers to undergo racial bias training, 17 percent oppose.
• 79 percent support creating statewide de-escalation and use-of-force policies for all Maryland police departments to follow, 16 percent oppose.
• 79 percent support increasing funding for police departments to hire more or better trained officers, 19 percent oppose.
• 60 percent support banning police from using chokeholds or strangleholds when making an arrest, 35 percent oppose.
• 54 percent support reducing the budget for the police department in their community and shifting the funds to social programs related to mental health, housing, and education, 43 percent oppose.
• 28 percent support the movement to “defund the police,” while 68 percent oppose.

Residents were also asked whether they held a favorable or unfavorable view of “the police” and “the Black Lives Matter movement”:

• 66 percent view “the police” favorably, 30 percent unfavorably.
  • Among Black Marylanders: 54 percent favorably, 41 percent unfavorably
  • Among white Marylanders: 73 percent favorably, 24 percent unfavorably
• 65 percent view “the Black Lives Matter” movement favorably, 29 percent unfavorably.
  • Among Black Marylanders: 85 percent favorably, 11 percent unfavorably
  • Among white Marylanders: 56 percent favorably, 38 percent unfavorably

“Maryland residents are largely supportive of key police reforms that are currently being discussed by state lawmakers and have dominated our national discourse. Some of these proposals, like creating statewide use-of-force policies and requiring police officers to undergo racial bias training, earn support from majorities of Democrats and Republicans,” said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College, in a news release.

“But there’s a mixed message on police budgets. Residents support both increasing funding to hire more or better trained police offers and reducing police budgets to allocate more money to social programs.”

Favorability Ratings of Political Parties Not surprising, given the 2-to-1 advantage in party registration, the Democratic Party is viewed more favorably (54 percent favorable) in Maryland than the Republican Party (35 percent favorable).

Download the complete results, including methodology and question design. To view archived polls, visit www.goucher.edu/poll.

About the Goucher College Poll

The Goucher College Poll is conducted under the auspices of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College. The poll is funded by the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center endowment and does not take additional funding from outside sources. The mission of the Goucher College Poll is to improve public discourse in Maryland by providing neutral, unbiased, and independent information on resident perceptions and opinions.