The emphasis on “Law and Order” may or may not work in national politics but Republicans on the local level should embrace this theme with enthusiasm.

The upsurge in transients who spend the night in parks, under freeway overpasses, or sleeping on sidewalks afflicts cities in every corner of the country and almost always violates laws against vagrancy, or camping out on public property. Police should enforce those laws with regular sweeps, assigning the homeless to private and public shelters which, in many cities, have available beds that go unused. By allowing clear violation of current laws and standards of decency, local authorities encourage more homelessness, which harms businesses, precious parkland and the homeless themselves.

While statistics show that many cities have escaped a recent increase in violent crime, nearly all communities in Obama’s America have suffered from the devastating increase in street people.