The crime surge that followed the Black Lives Matter riots in the summer of 2020 has continued unabated in many major American cities. In some, the issue has only become worse.

Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco were among the cities that reported an increase in crime in 2022. In Los Angeles, violent crime ticked up once again, while overall crime was up 11.6% over its 2021 numbers. In Chicago, the crime rate is 61% higher in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, with 41 homicides since Jan. 1. Crime is up in Washington D.C., as well.

D.C. provides a perfect example of how the Democratic Party has treated the issue of crime over the last few years. Rather than focus on stopping the widespread car thefts and the ongoing homicide issues, the city council instead voted to cut criminal penalties for crimes such as home invasion, carjacking, and even homicide. Lax laws and lax district attorneys have plagued other major, Democrat-run cities as well. Predictably, all it has done is embolden criminals.

President Joe Biden cares little, though. While Biden himself can’t directly change how cities respond to crime, he remains the head of the Democratic Party. His words carry weight, and yet on the issue of crime, an issue that disproportionately harms black people the most and remains a growing issue in Democrat-run cities, he is unable and unwilling to put pressure on his fellow Democrats.

Instead, Biden has continuously watered down the real concerns of everyday Americans who are increasingly worried about their own safety with the demands of anti-police activists and criminal justice “reformers” whose only idea for reform is to get criminals out of prison faster. Biden threw in his lot with Black Lives Matter activists who oppose the institution of policing himself, while his running mate boosted a bail fund to get rioters and other violent criminals back on the street.

Biden focuses more on feeding the anti-police narratives of the activist groups he has allied himself with, even in the aftermath of instances where criminal charges have been brought against the officers in question. Feeding into the demonization of police officers while downplaying and outright ignoring the crime crisis is precisely why crime has surged. Yet, Biden will do nothing to reverse course.