Ex-NYPD officer on NYC, Oakland crime surge: 'My 7-year-old could have predicted this'

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Ex-NYPD officer on crime surge as police get defunded: My 7-year-old could have predicted this

Former NYPD Officer Cosmo Lubrano reacts to violent crime rising as cities cut police department budgets.

A former NYPD officer called the recent surge in violence in U.S. cities defunding police departments an outcome that even his 7-year-old son could have predicted after Oakland's top cop blasted budget cuts in the California city.

NYPD veteran Cosmo Lubrano and LAPD Officer Deon Joseph joined "America's Newsroom" Wednesday to react to the increase in crime in the Bay Area and across the country after Oakland Police Chief Leronne Armstrong's public plea for more resources.

OAKLAND POLICE CHIEF RESPONDS TO CITY SLASHING PD BUDGET AMID CRIME SURGE: 'WE HAVE A CRISIS ON OUR HANDS'

"If you're going to cut funds from police departments, crime is going to rise," Lubrano told anchor Dana Perino. "How do you get it back down without putting funds back into those police departments and giving them the resources and the backing that they need to go out there and fight crime?"

"As much as I appreciate being here, my 7-year-old-son can answer this question," he said.

Oakland's Democratic-majority city council passed a budget last week that slashed the police department's funding by $17 million, as the city continues to hold its place as one of the Top 10 most dangerous cities in America.

"It's heartbreaking to hear," Joseph responded. "Everywhere this defund movement is sprouting up, crime is increasing, and I cannot believe that our politicians are stepping back and saying, 'Hey, this is not working.'"

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On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki accused Republicans of being the party of defunding the police for voting against President Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

Lubrano called the charge "nonsense."

"I don't know where that's coming from," he said. "When there was a Republican mayor in charge of New York, he cleaned up crime. … It took 20 years to correct a city that was just, you know, violent crime, drugs, graffiti everywhere in the 80s and early 90s. It got cleaned up. And within a year –  in a year's time –  it's completely fallen apart. I don't know how you can blame the Republicans for that."

Joseph called on the left to stop "gaslighting" law enforcement and take accountability for their own leadership failures.

"You want us to be accountable for the negative exceptions of our profession when they do things, I'm all 100% for that," he said. "You have to be accountable for your failures as well, and stop passing the buck and blaming it on the other side or blaming our police officers."

Joseph appealed for voters to become "fed up" and "speak up" for change to happen.

"It's going to come on the laps of the citizens who are going to have to say, 'We're tired of this. Enough's enough… stop blaming the police for all these failures.'"

"People are dying," he concluded. "It has to stop."

Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.