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A new national telephone and online survey by the National Police Association and Rasmussen Reports finds that 58% of Likely U.S. voters believe a law permitting an appointed state oversight committee with the ability to remove state attorneys from office if they won’t prosecute violent crimes would improve safety. Just 21% disagree, while another 20% are not sure.

(To see survey question wording, click here.)

Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters believe safety would be improved by a law permitting state attorney generals to appoint a special prosecutor if the local district attorney refuses to carry out their responsibilities. Twenty-four percent (24%) disagree and another 22% are not sure.

The survey of 982 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 7, 2022 by the National Police Association and Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The survey asked voters about the specific policies of big-city district attorneys – Alvin Bragg in New York, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, Kim Foxx in Chicago, George Gascon in Los Angeles and Kim Gardner in St. Louis – and found widespread opposition.

For example, Foxx’s office refused to prosecute five suspects arrested by Chicago police in a gang-related shootout that left one person dead, saying it was “mutual combat.” Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters believe Foxx bears responsibility if the gang members commit more crime, and 72% say refusing to prosecute gang members for gunfights will make Chicago’s neighborhoods less safe.