Biden Applauds More Police Presence After Rise In Crime, Jean-Pierre Says

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Joe Biden appreciated San Francisco’s decision to increase police presence as a response to soaring crime.

“The mayor in San Francisco is now trying to add police funding, because when she pulled it to reinvest into the communities, crime went way up,” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy said at the press briefing, referring to Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s recent decision.

“So would President Biden, as the leader of the Democratic party, advise Democratic mayors not to pull money from police budgets?” Doocy asked Jean-Pierre.

The deputy press secretary read out a statement from her notes, calling lethal gun crimes and the impunity with which thieves steal from retail shops “unacceptable.”

“We applaud the mayor making sure that there is more police presence in the city to protect Americans,” Jean-Pierre said. “If you’re a mayor or a local leader, [and] there is a crime problem in your community, we think you should step up and do something about it, just like many mayors are already doing.”

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Jean-Pierre then added that mayors could count on federal support in their fight against rising crime rates. (RELATED: Pelosi Says She Has No Idea Where America’s Increase In Crime Is Coming From)

She also noted that Biden had suggested doubling the amount of community-oriented anti-crime programs laid out in a plan by the Department of Justice. The initial plan envisioned supporting 1,000 programs nationwide, the deputy press secretary stated.

In June 2021, White House press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden believed most of the crime was due to “gun violence.”