What Americans views on reducing crime? More law enforcement vs more social services.

The Data: When asked to choose between two approaches to lowering crime in the U.S., a majority of Americans (67%) favor investing more toward “addressing social and economic problems such as drug addiction, homelessness and mental health” over devoting more resources to “strengthening law enforcement” (29%).

Historical Context: Gallup asked questions similar to this from 1989 to 2010, and these also showed a clear public preference for investing more in addressing root causes of crime rather than stricter enforcement.