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While most Americans approve of the work being done by their local police, nearly a third feel that some officers “routinely lie to serve their own interests,” a survey released on Thursday by Reuters and the IPSOS polling organization showed.
The number rises to 45 percent among African-Americans.
The findings come as scrutiny on police has been heightened in recent months by the killing of unarmed blacks by white officers, which has raised questions about police treatment of racial minorities.
While distrust is significant, nearly three-quarters of respondents approve the job done by their local police, the survey said. The survey showed that 56 percent of African-American respondents approved of their local police.
MarQuis McClee, a small-business owner from Bloomington, Indiana, who took part in the poll, said that he generally trusts police and has officers among his relatives, but as an African-American, he can also be wary around law enforcement.
“I have been involved with officers who give police a bad name,” McClee, 38, said, pointing to a recent incident where he was pulled over by an officer be believes was profiling him.
Nearly 70 percent of African-American respondents believe that police target minorities.
In November, simmering tensions exploded with violent protests in several U.S. cities following a grand jury decision not to indict a police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson for shooting an unarmed black teenager.
