The past year has been plagued by a sharp increase in violent crime, and many would like to blame the uptick on coronavirus lockdowns.

But according to one ex-New York Police Department detective on Monday, when it comes to the reasons why violence has increased, the coronavirus doesn’t even make his top three.

During an interview on Fox’s “American Newsroom,” Pat Brosnan, the retired detective, laid out exactly why crime is skyrocketing in major cities across the country.

In his opinion, the three main catalysts are a lack police morale and resources, riots, and an absence of the rule of law.

“It’s a convenient narrative to lay the blame on the doorstep of COVID. Granted, COVID is a contributing factor; there is no doubt about it,” Brosnan told Fox News.

TRENDING: Sidney Powell’s Bombshell Michigan Election Lawsuit Explained

“But riots for fun and profit, a desecrated police department in both morale and operationally, and a completely destructed and destructed rule of law relative to the adherence to it are the main drivers here –they’re the catalyst. COVID is just a first cousin that was a cause-and- effect.”

In 2020, Brosnan’s former employer, the city of New York, is facing massive increases in violent crime when compared to 2019.

Shootings in the city have almost doubled from 698 total in 2019 to 1,359 in 2020 as of Nov. 15, Fox News reported, citing NYPD figures.

Moreover, shooting victims have more than doubled from 828 to 1,667, and homicide victims have increased from 295 in 2019 to a whopping 405 this year.

All three main factors laid out by Brosnan in explaining the massive increases in crime and violence can by attributed to the rhetoric and actions of the radical left.

Riots have been commonplace following any police shooting of a minority, regardless of whether evidence has shown that said shooting was justified. Additionally, Black Lives Matter and other far-left activists have called for the defunding of police and have labeled all police forces as inherently racist institutions.

This has hurt the public’s trust in police, ruining their morale as well as their operationality given that many cities, such as New York,  actually are defunding their police forces.

Lastly, many on the left tacitly approve of the violence and mass looting by describing it as the cries of the unheard. At the same time, however, leftists denigrate police forces for trying to fight back against the crowds, calling them racists and fascists.

If that doesn’t qualify as a destruction of the “rule of law relative to the adherence to it,” I don’t know what does.

Brosnan continued his interview with Fox News by giving a specific example of how the left’s lax approach to crime is contributing to New York City’s increased lawlessness.

“The reality is a brand-new term has come to light. It is called de-arresting, where someone is lawfully placed under arrest for probable cause and then they are de-arrested because police commanders, under pressure from politicians, under pressure from the media, are saying certain crimes are no longer illegal, so people get a free pass. So how does that affect it at all?” Brosnan said.

“We have commercial burglaries up in New York City –42 percent. Car thefts 66 percent. A lot of this is directly related to the COVID, right. There is a lot more homeless, a lot more emotionally disturbed folks, but the reality is this free-for-all sense that there is no sanction, there is no penalty — it is all carrot and no stick.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.