Most Philadelphians think the city needs more cops. They’re split on more money.

Two-thirds of Philadelphians agree that the city does not have enough police officers — but residents are divided about whether spending more money on law enforcement would be an effective way to combat crime.

That’s according to a Lenfest Institute for Journalism/SSRS poll that surveyed more than 1,200 people about a variety of issues facing the city. The public sentiment on policing is one of several findings related to how residents feel about crime amid an ongoing gun-violence crisis that has driven an unprecedented number of homicides over the last three years.

Public safety is the top issue in the heated campaign for mayor. The winner of the race will determine who leads the Police Department and how the city responds to violent crime. And the poll comes as the department has faced significant challenges filling hundreds of open positions.

» READ MORE: What Philly residents said about the biggest issues facing the city in a new poll

According to the poll, nearly 90% of Philadelphians think crime should be a top priority for the mayor and elected officials over the next two years, and 67% of those polled said the city doesn’t have enough police officers. Just 5% said the city has too many officers.

That could represent a swing in attitudes on law enforcement. When the Pew Charitable Trusts asked a similar question in August 2020, less than half of Philadelphians said the city didn’t have enough police.

What’s not clear is if the respondents in this year’s poll who said the city doesn’t have enough officers think the city needs to grow the size of its force — or simply change how the department assigns the officers it already has.

» READ MORE: ‘Dismal’: Philadelphians are down on their city as the mayor’s race looms, a new poll shows

Interviews with a dozen of the poll respondents showed nuance behind the numbers.

“I do want to see more police, but I really want to see more police engagement,” said Shamiera Lamar, 27, a mother of two in Grays Ferry who took the survey. “There were times when cops would come around and they’d talk to the children and maybe draw with chalk and play ball with them. Now it feels like we’re all on our own out here.”

Terrell Madison, a 44-year-old father of four, said he’d rather have “over-policing than no policing at all.”

“The police are nowhere to be found. Where is the money going?” he asked. “We don’t feel safe at night.”

The Police Department is the city’s largest agency, and its budget is about $800 million annually. Mayor Jim Kenney this month proposed a $55 million budget increase in the next fiscal year to cover labor costs and upgrades to the crime lab.

In response to questions about how the city should prioritize different crime-fighting strategies, about 55% of respondents said increasing the police budget is important. But that was the least popular option for reducing crime among nine measures presented to poll respondents. For example, 86% said improving relationships between police and communities is key to combating crime.

Only 10% of the poll respondents said the department is very effective, and 46% said it’s somewhat effective.

There were some differences in attitudes about police that tracked along racial lines. Black residents were most likely to say the city does not have enough police officers. Nearly 75% of Black respondents said the city needs more police, compared with 66% of Hispanic residents, 62% of white residents, and 53% of Asian residents.

And attitudes about police effectiveness and funding were tied closely to geography and age.

Almost three-quarters of respondents who live in the Upper Northeast said increasing the police budget is an extremely important or very important way to decrease crime, significantly more than any other neighborhood. About 40% of respondents from South Philly and Center City said the same.

Bernie Couillard, 69, who lives in Mayfair, thinks the problem is with prosecuting cases.

“Philadelphia’s got plenty of police. I would like to see the politicians enforce the law,” Couillard said. “The progressive attitude toward crime, I guess they call it social justice, it’s a bunch of nonsense to me.”

Respondents older than 45 were much more likely than their younger counterparts to say the Police Department is doing a good job combating crime. More than half of those younger than 45 said the department is ineffective.

Ben Cotter, a 36-year-old who lives in South Philadelphia, said some of his friends with children have moved to the suburbs in part because of public safety. He thinks the problem comes down to enforcement.

“It seems like there’s less accountability if you do something wrong,” Cotter said. “It used to be if you get caught and convicted that it actually mattered.”

There was some correlation between attitudes on policing and the effect of gun violence on respondents’ lives. Philadelphians who said police funding should be increased were more likely to say they have heard gunshots within the last year.

And people who think Philadelphia has too few police were the likeliest to say gun violence has had a “major negative impact” on their life.

“[Police] don’t do anything,” said Zuleyka Torres, 27, who lives in Olney with her two young children. “What I would like to see is stricter rules for juveniles and more police on the street.”

At Torres’ last home in Kensington, bullets tore through her neighbor’s house while she was on her porch. Now she home-schools her children because of frequent gunshots she hears around the corner.

“My kids are afraid to be outside,” she said.

Police funding and staffing levels are key issues ahead of the May 16 primary as mayoral candidates vying to run a majority-Democratic city try to balance fighting crime with maintaining a commitment to criminal-justice reforms.

Several have centered their campaigns on law enforcement. Former Councilmember Cherelle Parker has touted a plan to hire hundreds of officers to patrol on foot and bike, and ex-Councilmember Allan Domb is calling for funding increases to support recruitment efforts.

The election comes less than three years after the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd sparked conversations across the country about the role of law enforcement. In June 2020, Philadelphia City Council — including five former members now running for mayor — voted to cancel a proposed increase to the department’s budget.

Since then, the politics have shifted. An increasing number of Democrats last year backed proposals to provide more resources to police as they weathered attacks from Republicans who branded the party as soft on crime.

Today’s conversation about the size of the force also comes as the department has struggled to fill hundreds of vacancies after a wave of resignations and retirements. The department is authorized to have about 6,400 officers.

Only about 2,500 officers are assigned to patrol. The rest work in administration or specialized units, such as detective bureaus and forensics, according to an audit conducted last year by former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, who is now running for mayor and has pledged to improve efficiencies within the department.

» READ MORE: Philly Police Dept. has inconsistent strategies, slow response times, and outdated systems, city controller says

Lan Nguyen, 30, of Eastwick, said she doesn’t necessarily think the city needs more police patrolling the streets, “but hands down, there needs to be more on public transportation.” (SEPTA has its own police force that is separate from the city’s and responsible for safety at its stations and on public transit.)

“Police absolutely need to be trained better,” said Nguyen. ”But there also needs to be preventative programs and initiatives … that allow kids to be able to be active and not roaming the streets.”

Gayle Taylor, 69, of University City, said the “defund the police” slogan was a “mistake.”

“It’s not defund, it’s renovate,” she said. “There needs to be changes.”