Former NYPD officer warns media's 'anti-police rhetoric' has led to violence against cops

Former New York Police Department officer Scott Welsh warned the increasing anti-police sentiment across the country is contributing to surging crime rates and violence. 

In an interview aired Friday on "Fox & Friends First," Welsh told Lawrence Jones that violence was very prevalent when he started with the NYPD in 1991. In his first year, his precinct covered 89 homicides. 

"Robberies were commonplace. Gunshots were commonplace. We’d drive on patrol at night and routinely hear gunshots," he said. "It was all night long."

He now believes violence in the city is returning to that level.

"People are afraid to walk down the street. Gunfire is common again," he said.

New York City crime surged 38.5% overall in January 2022, with a 31.6% increase in shootings. Twenty-three New Yorkers were victims of shootings within a 5-day period in February 2022.