Voters Support the Use of a Nonpolice First-Responder Agency 

By Kelsey Wright and Ethan Winter 

Executive Summary

  • Voters overwhelmingly report that they would support calling a nonpolice first-responder agency, by a 34-percentage-point margin.

  • Voters would prefer a nonpolice first-responder agency handle provisioning shelter for people experiencing homelessness, by a 36-percentage-point margin. 

  • Voters think that nonpolice first responders should be the responding agency when people are experiencing mental-health crises, by a 34-percentage-point margin

  • Voters under the age of forty-five think that a nonpolice first-responder agency should investigate nonviolent crime, by a 4-percentage-point margin.  

One proposal to limit the power of police while also promoting public safety consists of creating a new first-responder agency focused on remedying community issues without police involvement, similar to how fire departments and emergency medical services function now. Supporters argue that police aren’t needed in many of the situations to which they respond, and that having armed police officers where they aren’t needed can escalate problems.

As part of a June 2020 survey, Data for Progress polled voters about their beliefs about police, police violence, the recent protests, and proposed reforms. Overall, we found that voters support the creation of a nonpolice first-responder agency by a 34-percentage-point margin (58 percent support, 24 percent oppose). Among self-identifying Democrats, support is overwhelming, with the proposal enjoying a 58-point margin of support (73 percent support, 15 percent oppose). Meanwhile, self-identifying Republicans back it by a 9-point margin (47 percent support, 38 percent oppose).

 
 

We also asked voters whether they would support or oppose calling a nonpolice first-responder agency in a series of hypothetical situations. We found that for all situations offered to voters, a majority endorsed the use of nonpolice first responders. First, we found strong margins of support among voters for the use of nonpolice first responders when a family member is experiencing a mental-health crisis (+52 points) or a drug overdose (+42 points), when a person experiencing homelessness has erected a tent encroaching on a sidewalk (+26 points), and when someone is seen injecting drugs (+24 points).

 
 

We also asked voters how they would respond to a series of situations, specifically, whether they would prefer the situation be handled by the police or a nonpolice first responder. 

By a 36-point margin, voters prefer that a nonpolice first-responder agency handle provisioning shelter for people experiencing homelessness. By a 34-point margin, voters prefer that nonpolice first responders offer aid to someone experiencing a mental-health crisis. By a 32-point margin, voters prefer that a nonpolice first-responder agency handle treatment and treatment referrals for someone experiencing a drug overdose. On the other hand, voters support police being the ones to lead investigations of family crises, violent crime, and nonviolent crime. Voters also want police to be the ones to patrol neighborhoods in an effort to reduce crime. 

 
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As America continues to grapple with the role of police and with different visions of community safety, our findings show that voters of both parties support creating a nonpolice first-responder agency, and a majority of voters would prefer nonpolice first responders respond to several common situations to which police currently respond. For elected officials looking to strengthen their communities and take action in the face of mass protest on police brutality, creating a nonpolice first-responder agency proves to be a popular option that deserves their attention.


Authorship & Methodology

Kelsey Wright is an intern at Data for Progress. 

Ethan Winter @EthanBWinter is an analyst at Data for Progress. You can email him at ethan@dataforprogress.org. 

From June 4 through June 6, 2020, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,352 likely voters nationally, using web-panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ± 2.7 percentage points. 

Question wording

Some are proposing the creation of a new agency of first-responders, like emergency medical services or firefighters, to deal with issues in the community that need to be remedied but do not need police. Would you support or oppose calling such an agency

1-Strongly support

2-Somewhat support

3-Somewhat oppose

4-Strongly oppose

5-Don’t know

Some are proposing the creation of a new agency of first-responders, like emergency medical services or firefighters, to respond to issues involving treatment needs or a lack of resources. Below are common situations where a police officer would now respond, please state whether you support or oppose a new agency of treatment professionals and experts responding to the call instead of a police officer.

1-Strongly support

2-Somewhat support

3-Somewhat oppose

4-Strongly oppose

5-Don’t know

For each situation, say whether you would prefer that it be handled by the police or a non-police first responder agency.

  • Coordinate the provision of shelter for people who may be experiencing homelessness

  • Offer aid to someone experiencing a mental health crisis

  • Give referrals for additional treatment, including mental health and substance abuse

  • Treat someone experiencing a drug overdose

  • Lead investigations during family crises, such as instances of spousal abuse, parents' desertion, or a more general lack of social support.

  • Investigating a non-violent crime

  • Responding to a situation where the suspected perpetrator is unarmed

  • Intervene during domestic abuse

  • Patrolling areas to reduce crime

  • Dealing with traffic violations and drunk driving incidents

  • Investigating a sexual assault

  • Responding to a situation where the suspected perpetrator is armed

  • Investigating a violent crime

1-Always handled by police

2-Mostly handled by police

3-Mostly handled by non-police first responders

4-Always handled by non-police first responders

5-Don’t know

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