Occupational Groups

On some subjects, racial differences among the police are considerably more pronounced than they are among the public as a whole.

A new Pew Research Center nationwide survey of 7,917 police officers focuses on a wide range of topics about policing, including how police view their jobs, officers’ experiences in the field and how these fatal encounters have impacted the way they do their jobs.

Read an interview with Senior Editor Rich Morin and Senior Research Methodologist Andrew Mercer, who were involved in our groundbreaking police officer survey.

Majorities of police officers say that recent high-profile encounters between black citizens and police have made their jobs riskier and left many officers reluctant to fully carry out some of their duties.

Tell us how you think police would answer each of five questions in a Pew Research Center nationwide survey of 7,917 police officer then we’ll tell you how officers actually answered each question i

At least four secretaries of state previously worked as top executives for large private-sector companies.

The share of the population with military experience – counting those who are on active duty or were in the past – has fallen by almost half since 1980.

Three-quarters or more of Americans are confident in the military, medical scientists and scientists in general to act in the best interests of the public. But fewer than half report similar confidence in the news media, business leaders and elected officials.

Blacks and whites in the U.S. disagree over police performance and differ on the causes of fatal encounters between blacks and police.

Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Washington-based reporters for local newspapers accredited by the Senate to cover Congress declined by 11%.