51% isn't exactly a glowing review.

51 is a heck of a lot greater than zero though, which 'hn_throwaway_99' asserted.

There is a chart at the bottom of the article I linked that ranks different institutions about which people were all asked the same question "How much confidence you you have in institution X". Note if you include the "some" answer, the "generally positive responses" tally rises to 83%, with only 17% saying "very little" or "none".

But more importantly, the police were the 3rd highest rated institution, behind "small business" and "the military". They ranked above "higher education", "the church or organized religion", "public schools", "organized labor", "banks" and "newspapers".

Having confidence in the polices ability to be police doesn't mean you like cops. I'm confident that police are quite good at their jobs, because we don't measure "good" by how little people get hurt or killed in the act of policing.