We’ve tried everything else. Maybe it’s time to try the thing that worked.

S aint Augustine — you have probably heard the name — was a celebrated philosopher and theologian, and a devout Christian, who lived in the Roman Empire a few hundred years after Christ died. Justice was an important part of Saint Augustine’s theology and it was rooted in his love of God. Saint Augustine said that “the function of justice is to assign to each his due.” In other words, justice is when people get what they deserve. His view has been widely adopted in Western theology and philosophy. Some have criticized this definition as being trite, as being a cliché, as being vacuous. Saint Augustine’s critics say it doesn’t tell us anything.

I think it does. Here’s why. In a republic like ours, the people get to decide what justice looks like. Through their elected representatives, they make the rules, the norms, the laws. Can a law be unjust? You bet. Racial segregation was once both law and custom in America, and it was wrong. But the American people finally realized it, and they fixed it. Our system isn’t perfect — but we’re always trying. And more often than not, we get there. Justice, to me, still means what Saint Augustine said: people getting what they deserve. If you hurt someone or steal  his stuff, you deserve to be punished. Not tortured. Punished, humanely but firmly. Maybe as retribution, maybe for deterrence, maybe to protect the rest of us. And sometimes that means you need to be separated from society. That’s just common sense.

The woke elites may call that harsh. I call it obvious.

There’s no shortage of theories about why crime is rising in America. This is a complex issue, to be sure, but here’s mine: In large part, it’s because we stopped backing the blue. We stopped enforcing our laws. We started listening to people who think cops are a bigger problem than criminals. That’s how you get anarchy. The defund-the-police movement wasn’t just dumb — it was dangerous. It was born from the neo-Bolshevik woke left, whose disciples include folks such as former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. He was U-Haul’s Salesman of the Year, thanks to the number of people fleeing his city, one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s probably his age that makes people think de Blasio is an adult.

Most cops don’t wake up in the morning hoping to hurt someone. Most cops will leave you alone if you don’t do illegal stuff. Unless you identify as an idiot, you also understand this: What you allow is what will continue. Stop arresting criminals, stop prosecuting them, stop locking them up, and crime will go up. Duh.

Take California Governor Gavin Newsom. Please. He’s got nice hair, but I’d rather bleed from the eyes than take his advice on crime. Your aunt’s Facebook page has more credibility. Following his lead has gotten people hurt. And worse. I’ll give you one example: Newsom championed a California law that says, essentially, that you can steal as much as you want so long as it’s $950 or less. (Theft of $950 or less is supposed to be a misdemeanor as opposed to a felony, but no one ever gets prosecuted.) It’s just a few bucks, you say? Study after study shows that relatively minor crimes and other demonstrations of disorder in a neighborhood encourage even more serious crimes. It’s called the broken-windows theory. Look it up. Newsom, in my judgment, is the poster child for the view that all people who commit crimes are more sick than bad, and, as victims, they should not have to take responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault. That’s why it’s safer to walk down the streets of Mogadishu than many streets in downtown Los Angeles.

America’s a big, wide, open, mobile, free country. Police have contact with around 50 million Americans every year. Sometimes things go wrong, and people are hurt. Every case is different. But when something goes wrong, there should be an investigation. If the cop did something criminal — not just a mistake but something criminal, he should be punished, sometimes severely. See the George Floyd case. Most Americans will agree on everything I’ve just said, and a few others. First, most cops — black and white — don’t want to hurt anybody. Second, cops are necessary. If you hate cops just because they’re cops, the next time you get in trouble, call a crackhead. Third, resisting arrest is immeasurably foolish. If a cop tells you to do something, do it. Sue later if you think you were wronged. Resisting a cop will end badly. Fourth, if you see someone about to stab me, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop them — whether you are a cop or not.

Back in 2020, in Washington, D.C., local lawmakers decided cops were the problem. So they cut the police budget by $15 million. Why? In the name of “social justice.” To grapple with undoing centuries of layered and systemic racism and its permutations throughout our society, in the words of one city council member. Well, here’s a news flash: Without order, there can be no justice. Let me get this straight. We’re going to promote justice by destroying it. And here’s another: Unless you’ve made a career out of disappointing your parents, you know there are bad people in this world. Or, if you prefer, there are a lot of people in this world who do bad things.

Each of us, of course, is capable of sin. But some people do really bad things — murder, rape, robbery, burglary, arson, theft, fraud — and they do them repeatedly. I don’t know why. If I make it to heaven, I’m going to ask. These people may be sick, mixed up, confused, unloved, or all of the above. But in a society grounded in the principle of free will and responsibility, justice — getting what they deserve as determined by the members of our society — requires that they be punished. Rehabilitated too, if possible. But also punished. And to protect others, they often have to be separated from society. Cops play an essential role in all of this. They do, and it’s undeniable. I’m sorry we don’t all live on the Big Rock Candy Mountain where hens lay soft-boiled eggs. But we don’t. We also can’t forget that behind the crime statistics are real people. Flesh and blood. A few years ago in Mid-City New Orleans, four teenagers — a 17-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, and two 15-year-old girls — carjacked a 73-year-old grandmother. Her arm got caught in the seat belt and they dragged her down the street until her arm was severed. She bled to death. That is what we’re up against. Crime hits poor communities hardest. Most poor people aren’t criminals, but they’re often the ones victimized. Businesses leave their neighborhoods. Jobs disappear. Those that stay have to raise prices to cover security, insurance, and losses. That hurts families in poor communities who are already struggling.

In New Orleans, for instance, where crime is widespread, we’ve tried everything. More police. Higher salaries. Curfews. Task forces. Youth programs. Social programs. Cameras. Facial recognition. Conflict resolution. You name it, we’ve tried it. What we haven’t tried enough is backing our cops — really backing them. Not just with money, but with public support. Letting them know we’ve got their backs. That they won’t be fired or prosecuted or ruined for making a hard call in good faith. And before my critics argue that New Orleans cops are racist, consider that most of the city’s cops are black.

The other thing we need, in New Orleans and elsewhere, is stop-and-frisk.

Under the Constitution, a police officer can stop and question a suspect without probable cause if they have reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed. If the officer suspects the person is armed, he can pat the person down. That’s called stop-and-frisk. It’s been legal since 1968, when the Supreme Court decided Terry v. Ohio. It’s not new. And it’s not controversial. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. No, cops can’t just stop and frisk anyone. They need “reasonable suspicion.” “Reasonable suspicion” is not a hunch. It’s not a whim. It’s a legal standard. Not as high as probable cause, but still real. Every cop in America is trained in it. Let’s say a cop sees someone walking down the street peering into car windows with a Slim Jim. The cop doesn’t have probable cause to arrest him but does have reasonable suspicion to stop and ask questions. If the guy’s jacket has a bulge that could be a weapon, the cop can pat him down.

Stop-and-frisk is used every day by officers around the country. And yes, like any tool, it can be abused. But abuse isn’t the same as use. If an officer breaks the rules, he should be held accountable. But the tool itself isn’t inherently racist or abusive. It’s constitutional. It’s common sense. Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg used stop-and-frisk in New York City to great effect. Crime dropped. Some people said that was because of stop-and-frisk. Others said it wasn’t. Eventually, lawsuits claimed that the New York City Police Department was abusing it — targeting people based on race, not behavior.

The courts stepped in, reforms were made, and then Mayor de Blasio all but shut down stop-and-frisk. Crime surged. Go figure.

We need to bring stop-and-frisk back — carefully, legally, and with oversight. Most urban police forces today are majority-black. I don’t think those officers are racist. And if people see abuse, we should encourage them to report it. One smart safeguard? Require a written report every time an officer stops and frisks someone. In New York, it’s called a UF 250. It takes a few minutes and documents the officer’s reasoning. It’s already standard in many departments.

The problem isn’t too many law-abiding citizens suddenly turning to crime. The problem is career criminals running free. We’ve tried everything else. Maybe it’s time to try the thing that worked.

We make people walk through metal detectors at concerts and courthouses. We let the Transportation Security Administration pat us down at the airport. Why? To stay safe. I don’t like it. You probably don’t either. But we deal with a little inconvenience and a minor intrusion of our privacy to prevent something worse. The benefits outweigh the costs. That’s all stop-and-frisk is — a reasonable and effective tool for a dangerous world.

Some cities, such as Chicago, buried stop-and-frisk under paperwork to make cops stop using it. Crime didn’t take the hint. It kept going up. Let me be clear: I’m not calling for racial profiling. I’m not calling for rights to be violated. I’m calling for trained, accountable officers to be allowed to use a legal, effective practice that’s been around for half a century.

Crime is stealing the soul of our communities. It’s robbing families of peace, safety, and opportunity. We can turn things around, but only if our leaders stop putting politics ahead of public safety. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

Excerpted from How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will by Senator John Kennedy. Copyright 2025 by John Kennedy. Published with permission from Broadside Books and HarperCollins Publishers.