High approval rates for how Wisconsin police are handing their job, according to new poll

59 percent said they support increasing local taxes to pay for specially-trained mental health officers

WISCONSIN (WKBT) – 79 percent of people in Wisconsin in a new poll say they strongly or somewhat approve of how the local police force is handling its job.

That’s according to a new survey from the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.

59 percent said they support increasing local taxes to pay for specially-trained mental health officers.

The same percentage shows they favor new local taxes to pay for body-worn cameras.

According to the WPPA’s executive director, perception of police in the state has not changed much since last year.

“Given the tumultuous year that we had since the tragic death of George Floyd, I think one would expect that there would be more of a decline in the way that police do law enforcement and the public support for it. For police agencies generally. We didn’t find that to be the case,” said WPPA executive director Jim Palmer.

75 percent of poll respondents said they favor the creation of a law to protect officers from retaliation by their agencies for reporting potential instances of excessive force.

You can read more results here.

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