However one feels about Trump’s crime fighting efforts in DC, it is clear that he has highlighted the failures of the soft on crime philosophy that has been employed in so many Blue cities. Inconvenient truth to the liberal Left, data from DC shows that locking up criminals actually works. When they are in jail they can’t re-offend, if they believe that they may face stiff jail time they think twice about committing crime.

As long as we insist on a permissive society without strict moral underpinnings, we inadvertently encourage those who of their own free will choose to prey on others. None of the Left’s grand ideas such as restorative justice, violence de-escalation, or defunding police has worked to slow the plague of crime in our big cities, a plague that is one of the main causes leading to the decline of urban America. Ironically, it is especially true that so much of urban crime is perpetrated against the very poor and minority citizens so coveted by the Left. The fact is the Left’s much-heralded efforts have only made things worse. Throughout the history of civilization, the only proven way to reduce crime is to remove criminals from society for a period of time.

The Left blames crime on everyone and everything except for its own philosophical failings. Poverty is often cited by the Left as a societal failure leading to crime, not a failure of the individual. To some extent they are right, poverty is certainly at least a predictor of criminal activity. But their use of blame for political gain without acknowledging the reality of the reasons for so much of urban poverty is a failure of historic proportion. Instead of just playing up to the siren call of feel-good policies, when crime is truly controlled urban centers become much more attractive to economic growth. This leads to reducing poverty through opportunity, resources, and prosperity for citizens. Relying on blame for political gain and by sending the message that malcontents can commit crime with seeming impunity ensures that urban centers will never recover to their once prosperous state.

It worked in New York City decades ago, and it’s working in DC today. No tolerance for crime or criminals quells fear in citizens and starts the process to reverse the long decline of our urban centers.

Tough action may conflict with liberal sensibilities, but being a nation of laws works.