Trump backs local police in new executive order, rebukes Democrat crime policies that sowed 'chaos' across US

Crime rocked the nation from coast-to-coast in 2020, as riots protesting the death of George Floyd broke out and activists demanded police departments be defunded, simultaneously to Americans abiding lockdown orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended daily life. 

Experts who spoke to Fox News Digital at the height of the 2020-era crime wave pointed to an array of variables that have likely contributed to the increases since 2020, including the pandemic; anti-police rhetoric voiced by Black Lives Matter and defund the police proponents; a culture of lawlessness promoted by liberal district attorneys; and the "Ferguson effect" - named after the high-profile Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, and referring to when police pull back from proactive patrolling when violent crimes spike. 

Amid the pandemic and riots of 2020, left-wing cities moved to defund police departments as activists demanded an overhaul of the justice system, including installing community-based policing over employing officers, following the death of Floyd and other Black Americans in police custody. 

Officers filed for early retirement, changed careers or moved to police jurisdictions that backed cops in the face of the anti-police rhetoric, while morale plummeted among the ranks and departments reported severe understaffing issues. 

Details on the upcoming executive order shared with Fox Digital took specific issues with local "soft-on-crime policies" that have sowed "chaos," such as sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants, cities that "ignore shoplifting, vagrancy, and urban encampments," and recent bail reform initiatives that do not require suspects charged with crimes to post bail in order to leave jail while they await trial. 

The executive order instead will work to fulfill Trump's Make America Safe Again 2024 campaign promise, following other safety-focused executive actions such as securing the border and combating antisemitism that ran rampant on college campuses following the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, Fox Digital learned.