White House press secretary Jen Psaki at Thursday's press briefing told Fox News' Peter Doocy that the "root cause" of smash-and-grab robberies "in a lot of communities" around the country is the pandemic. <blockquote>PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS: OK. And then big cities are dealing with smash-and-grab robberies, a record number of police officers have been shot and killed this year. What is President Biden going to do about all this lawlessness? JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE: Well, Peter, I would say that one, the president proposed additional funding in his budget over the funding that had been proposed by the prior president to increase and support local police departments, make sure we keep cops on the beat. And we ensure that local communities are working in partnership to crack down on crime and any dangers they see in their communities. So, that's one of the steps. We've also worked with a range of communities across the country, on strike forces, as you know, something we've talked about in the past. We're continuing to implement that from the Department of Justice, but the president absolutely believes that community police forces can have an important instrumental effect in helping keep communities safe. QUESTION: And does the president still think that crime is up because of the pandemic? JEN PSAKI: I think many people have conveyed that, and also one of the reasons that crime -- one of the root reasons crime we've -- root causes of crime in communities is guns and gun violence. And we've seen that statistically around the country. QUESTION: To your point, so, when a huge group of criminals organizes themselves and they want to go loot a store, a CVS, a Nordstrom, a Home Depot, until the shelves are clean, do you think that's because of the pandemic? JEN PSAKI: I think a root cause in a lot of communities is the pandemic. Yes, go ahead. </blockquote>