As part of his campaign "law and order" message, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed crime was rising nationwide.

"Fact checkers" disputed his assertions, with Politifact notably declaring Trump's declaration "Pants on fire!" when it released a scathing rebuttal.

But as the year comes to a close and new data becomes available, it appears once again Donald Trump was right.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, 16 of the 20 largest police departments in the country reported a rise in homicides as of mid-December. The city of Chicago showed an astounding 56 percent increase in murders from 2015.

According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, 37 of the 65 largest police departments reported year-over-year increases in homicide rates as of Sept. 30. In context, the findings are even worse, as some of those cities who had decreases in homicides, including Milwaukee, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are simply recovering from dramatic increases in 2015.

The Journal notes, "In some cities, violent crime increased in the wake of deadly police confrontations with young black men."

The rising tensions between police and African-American communities has led to what some people call "The Ferguson Effect," as police feel unable to do their jobs. FBI Director James Comey stated in 2015 police officers were avoiding engagement with communities because they felt "under siege" and did not want to get out of their cars for fear of being targeted by a mob.

Their fears are not unfounded.

Violence against police has also increased sharply. Shootings of police officers are up over 70 percent in 2016, and fatal ambushes are up by over 150 percent.

Jeff Roorda, a retired police officer, former Missouri state representative, and the current business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, is among those who allege the aggression against police is driving an increase in violent crime.

"Police are under an unprecedented verbal attack from the mainstream media and politicians as well as an unprecedented physical attack from criminals whose acts of anti-police violence are emboldened by these rhetorical assaults on law enforcement," he told WND.

Roorda, author of "The War On Police: How The Ferguson Effect Is Making America Unsafe," claims police officers are being lost "in droves" because of the multifaceted "war" being waged against them.

"Police departments are dangerously understaffed as a result and recruiting has become every bit as difficult as retention," he said. "Consequently, the cops who remain on the job are reluctant and outnumbered. See the bloody streets of Chicago if you want to understand better what happens when you make the job of a cop impossible."

Roorda said the media were determined to ignore the rise in crime because the facts didn't fit the narrative they had manufactured.

"The media have been manipulating this myth of racially motivated police brutality since Rodney King," said Roorda. "The fact that the use of this narrative was thought to damage Mr. Trump by denying the truth of what he said was an added bonus for the media elite."

It's never been tougher to be one of the men in blue than it is right now. Get "The War On Police: How the Ferguson Effect Is Making America Unsafe" now at the WND Superstore

Colin Flaherty, who chronicled black mob violence directed against whites nationwide in his book "White Girl Bleed A Lot," pinned the blame on the Obama administration for telling criminals, especially African-Americans, they were not responsible for their own criminal behavior.

"Instead, black criminals are regarded as victims of white racism," Flaherty complained. "Telling criminals that crime is not their fault is just about the most dangerous thing a government can do – and the Obama crowd did just that daily."

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, a WND columnist, civil rights leader, founder of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny) and author of "The Antidote: Healing America From The Poison Of Hate, Blame and Victmhood," agreed Obama is at least partially to blame.

"The anti-police rhetoric and grandstanding coming from Obama and the Department of Justice over the past eight years has caused police to be less pro-active and has emboldened criminals," the reverend told WND. "Also, the breakdown of the black family and rise in single female-headed households has created a lack of respect for police and authority. The brainwashing of the youth by so-called black leaders and the liberal education system is also fostering an environment where police – especially white officers – are viewed as '‘racist.'"

And as Peterson observed, it is the black community that pays the cost of this "anti-racist" posturing.

"Law-abiding blacks are being victimized by the lawlessness that is consuming cities like Chicago, Detroit and Memphis," Peterson thundered. "The rise in homicides in major cities directly impacts blacks first because this is where the majority of blacks reside. Supporting the police and aggressively going after criminals is going to help decent black Americans."

Roorda agreed anti-police agitation endangers African-Americans even as it claims to speak in the name of "black lives." He was especially critical of "Black Lives Matter," which many observers have called a "hate group."

"I don't want to get the notion that black lives matter confused with the ill-named 'Black Lives Matter' movement," Roorda told WND. "Every day I pinned on my badge as a cop and put myself in harm's way, I did so because I believed that black lives do matter and I had a sacred duty to protect them. But the organization 'Black Lives Matter' endangers the lives of African-Americans. Their hate speech, calls to arms and activities that marginalize law enforcement have resulted in a booming increase in crime. Because blacks are disproportionately the victims of crime, particularly violent crime, BLM places black lives in danger every minute of every day.

"Police simply want peace. But peace won't come until the national dialogue centers on reality. More blacks are dying at the hands of police because more blacks are trying to kill police or engaging in other dangerous behavior that requires police to deploy deadly force. That's what we need to address."



Both Peterson and Roorda say the most important thing President-elect Trump can do to stop the violence once he assumes office is simply tell the truth.

"Trump should continue supporting police and speaking the truth about the real cause of crime and offer real solutions for inner city problems," Peterson said. "He should encourage the police to do their jobs and let them know that his administration will not be politicize the judicial process and will support law enforcement."

And Roorda argued Trump needs to keep speaking out against the phony media narratives that smear police officers for doing their jobs.

"He just needs to be honest," said Roorda. "All of this trouble started with the soundbite distortions that were fabricated from high-profile police encounters, mantras like, 'hands up; don't shoot' or 'I can't breathe' or 'rough ride' that were cut from whole cloth in Ferguson, Staten Island and Baltimore. If this president rejects those lies rather than embrace and perpetuate them as the last president did, it will change the national dialogue."

It's never been tougher to be one of the men in blue than it is right now. Get "The War On Police: How the Ferguson Effect Is Making America Unsafe" now at the WND Superstore