They’re called peace officers for a reason: because they keep the peace. But lately, in big city after big city, the good guys are increasingly taking fire and the bad guys are running amok. The American people will thus face a choice this November: between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, between lawfulness and lawlessness.

As The Washington Times reports, “President Trump stood up for hero police officers on Monday, criticizing an ‘anti-cop crusade’ by Democrats that he said is causing a crime wave in major cities, and vowing to send in federal reinforcements to cities where violence is out of control.”

The president hasn’t yet made good on his threat to send in the troops, but how much more will our urban centers tolerate? “Violent crime is spiraling in their cities,” Trump said. “It’s all far-left cities where they have no understanding of what has to be done. If that’s what you want for a country, you probably have to vote for ‘Sleepy’ Joe Biden, because he doesn’t know what’s happening. But you’re not going to have it with me.”

Call it cause and effect or, more precisely, The Ferguson Effect, but it’s been seven weeks since George Floyd was wrongfully killed while in police custody, and seven weeks since rioting started in Minneapolis and spilled out across the country. We’ve had time to review the data during this stretch and, for starters, six big American cities have seen a significant spike in violence. The common thread? Each of these cities has at least entertained a diminished police presence.

Minneapolis has seen a 47% increase in armed assaults since the Floyd killing and twice as many homicides as this time last year. In New York, where lawmakers slashed the NYPD budget by a whopping $1 billion, shootings are up 130% and homicides are up 21%. In Chicago, murders are up 22%, and at least 87 people were shot over the July Fourth holiday weekend. In Louisville, murders are up 40%. In Los Angeles, violent crime and murder are both up. And in Atlanta, shootings and murders more than doubled during the past month. There, a cop was wrongly charged with felony murder for having shot and killed Rayshard Brooks after he resisted arrest, punched the officer, stole his taser, and fired it at him while attempting to flee. (Who one earth would want to be a cop under such conditions?)

One fact in all these cities is most stubborn: When police pull back, people die. And all too often, sadly, children die, too — with nary a whisper from the virulently anti-cop Black Lives Matter crowd.

Another awful reality seems evident in recent days: Cop killers are becoming increasingly emboldened. One officer was killed and another injured in Washington state last night during a traffic stop. Over the weekend, two cops were ambushed and murdered in McAllen, Texas. And recently in Detroit, only a miracle saved an arresting officer from being shot at point-blank range.

Those who think demonizing and defunding our law enforcement officers is a good idea had better think again. Cops save lives. Social justice warriors don’t.