Black people are the group Britons are most likely to think police are more strict with, and Muslims the group they are more likely to say police are more lenient with

Accusations have been levelled at the police in the last couple of years that they are engaging in “two-tier policing”. That is to say, that police have been treating minority groups more leniently than white people, initially in the context of the anti-immigration protests when compared to rallies for other causes like Black Lives Matter or Palestine.

A new YouGov survey shows that many Britons do indeed believe that the police are stricter with some groups and more lenient with others. However, there is disagreement over which groups that applies to – and whether they are being over or under-policed.

For instance, the group that Britons are most likely to say aren’t treated in the same way by the police are black people, with 60% thinking they are treated differently by police compared to 22% who think they are treated about the same as everyone else. However, those who think the police treat disorder by black people differently are divided on how that manifests: 36% think the police are stricter, while 24% think they are more lenient.

There is likewise a tendency to see police as being more strict with those with extreme right-wing views (33%) and young men (36%), while people are most likely to think that police are more lenient with Muslim people (34%) and those with white-collar jobs (32%).

Of the 14 groups YouGov asked about, in only two cases is the number of people who think they are treated no differently higher than the combined total of those who think they are treated differently by police (either more strictly or more leniently): Jewish people, by 39% to 33%, and older men, by 44% to 31%.

Click here to review the full results of the YouGov survey.