After years of a steady decline in crime, FBI data released Monday showed violent crime in the U.S. spiked in 2015. The report stated that violent crime across the nation rose by almost 4% and murders rose by a staggering 10.8%. The percentage of increase was the sharpest in almost half a century. Much of the increase in crime was located in some of America’s largest cities, with Chicago leading the way. The question is, why this sudden increase in violent crime?

The Left likes to blame it on the supposed lack of so-called “common sense” gun laws, as Hillary Clinton did when questioned about the rise in crime in last night’s debate. But this has little to do with the problem, as many of America’s cities like Chicago have some of the nation’s most restrictive gun laws. Could the answer lie more in what some have referred to as the “Ferguson effect”? The police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson ignited protests and riots that in turn birthed the Black Lives Matter movement with its racist, anti-police message. That has spread to many of the nation’s larger cities. The Leftmedia and several leftist politicians, having celebrated rather than condemned BLM, have successfully advanced a narrative which has produced a chilling effect on law enforcement. This “Ferguson effect,” although denied by some within the law enforcement community, does appear to be the most plausible explanation for this sudden rise in violent crime. As racial tensions have only increased and law enforcement across the country find themselves as the target of racist rhetoric and even violence, it’s not a stretch to reason that law enforcement has become cautious and reactionary rather than proactive in its policing. That has allowed crime to worsen, and it illustrates exactly why the BLM movement is so dangerous.