It’s no secret that New York is undergoing a crime wave, with violent crime rising at alarming rates. What’s also not a secret is the steps that are needed to reverse this onslaught and return the city to the state of safety for which it rightfully had become so proud. The New York “Miracle” that brought crime rates to record lows during the 1990s and kept them there for the ensuing 20 years was not a miracle at all, but rather a series of measures that experience has proven to reduce crime.

The undoing of some of these policies by officials as part of the state’s so-called bail reform, a lack of availability of mental health treatment for so many of the city’s most vulnerable citizens, and some of the city’s district attorneys refusing to prosecute criminals, has led to the state of lawlessness. A miracle isn’t required to improve New York’s public safety. What is needed is the political courage from politicians to admit that the so-called reforms they implemented are contributing to the crime wave and that changes are necessary if the uptick is to be ended.