According to the poll, 65 percent of likely voters said violent crime is getting “worse,” 22 percent said it is “staying about the same,” 10 percent said it’s “better,” and 3 percent were unsure. This view is consistent across party lines, with 72 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of independents, and 59 percent of Democrats saying violent crime is getting “worse” in the country.
However, the opinions diverged when voters were asked to specify their confidence in the current president to solve the violent crime issue, with 77 percent of Democrats indicating confidence in Biden compared to only 20 percent of Republicans.
Overall, 50 percent expressed little confidence in Biden’s ability to handle, with 35 percent saying they are “not at all confident” and 15 percent saying they are “not very” confident. Forty-six percent expressed at least some confidence in Biden.
The survey was conducted on May 25-26 on 900 likely voters. The sampling error is +/- 3 percent with a 95% level of confidence.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on May 26 a new three-pronged initiative to help combat the surge of violent crime in several U.S. cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death last summer.
The initiative will also require U.S. attorney’s offices to work closely with state, local, federal, tribal, and community partners to address violent crimes seen over the summer, such as murders, shootings, and robberies. The current Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program also will be updated.
Biden has vowed to enact gun control with or without Congress’s help to bring down the death from mass shootings, gang-related and one-on-one gun murders, and gun suicides. While Democrats support such measures, Republicans say they oppose Biden’s gun control policies because they punish law-abiding citizens who get their guns legally, while criminals get around the system.
During an April press conference to announce his executive action on gun control, he said laws like universal background checks and red flag laws (that take guns away from those deemed mentally unfit) are not unconstitutional.