Most say crime is a major problem in America’s cities, but few support a federal takeover of police departments

August 27, 2025

Earlier this month President Trump activated National Guard members to reduce crime in Washington, D.C. and has threatened similar federal interventions in other large cities.  Two-thirds of the public think crime is a major problem in the country overall and 8 in 10 say it is a major problem in large cities. Only about a fifth say crime is a major problem in small towns or rural areas, or in their own community. 

Fifty-five percent of the public think it’s acceptable for the U.S. military and National Guard to assist local police in large cities. But only a third support the federal government taking control of major city police departments. 

There are large differences in the views of Republicans and Democrats regarding use of the military in urban law enforcement. About 8 in 10 Republicans say it’s acceptable for the federal government to use the military and National Guard to assist local police.  However, only half think it is acceptable for the federal government to take control of large city police departments. 

Democrats are opposed to having the federal government send troops to large cities at all. 

Two-thirds of the public think crime in the United States is a major problem and even more, 81%, think it’s a major concern in cities. Ninety-six percent of Republicans see crime as a major problem in large cities, along with 68% of Democrats. 

Few people say crime is a major problem in their own community, but residents of urban areas are more likely than suburbanites or people living in rural areas to say crime is a major problem in their community.  Thirty-seven percent of city dwellers say crime is a major problem in their community compared with only 19% of people who live in the suburbs and 22% of those who reside in rural parts of the country. 

Crime is a relatively strong issue for the president, with 53% of the public approving of how he is handling it. That is higher than Trump’s overall job approval or approval of his handling of other issues. His overall job approval rating of 45% is up 5 points from the AP-NORC poll taken in July.  The public’s opinion of how the president is managing the economy has also ticked up compared with July.   Forty-three percent approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, up from 38% last month. Still, 6 in 10 say the national economy is in poor condition.

The nationwide poll was conducted August 21-25, 2025, using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,182. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.8 percentage points.

Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Most say crime is a major problem in America’s cities, but few support a federal takeover of police departments” (August 2025). https://apnorc.org/projects/most-say-crime-is-a-major-problem-in-americas-cities-but-few-support-a-federal-takeover-of-police-departments/