First GOP presidential debate: on Crime

Asa Hutchinson: I will stop smash-and-grab in our inner cities

Donald Trump: In Republican-run cities they arrest people for crimes

Mike Pence: Don't go easy on bail reform; don't defund the police

PENCE: Well, I think what's in part to blame is the Democrats been talking about defunding the police for the last five years. And we ought to be funding law enforcement, particularly in our major cities at unprecedented levels. And yet Democrats and liberal prosecutors in major metropolitan areas continue to work out their fanciful agendas, to do bail reform and go easy. What we need is strong commitment to law enforcement. We need leadership in Washington, D.C., that will marshal the resources of the states, marshal the resources of the American people. But when I'm president, we're going to extend those tax cuts. And we're going to block grant funding back to the states with a growing economy and educational choice and law enforcement. We will bring our cities back.

Vivek Ramaswamy: We can fix crime wave with spine for cops

RAMASWAMY: The reality is, we have a crime wave in this country, and we know how to fix it. The question is, do we actually have the spine to do it? More cops in the streets, who are on the streets able to do their jobs without looking over their shoulder for getting sued. And we also have a mental health epidemic in this country. Just over the same period that we have closed mental health institutions, we have seen a spike in violent crime. Do we have the spine to bring them back? I think we should. As President, I will. But, it's not just drugging up people in those psychiatric institutions with Zoloft and Seroquel. Yes, we will stand for the rule of law. Yes, we will close the southern border where criminals are coming in every day. And yes, we will back law enforcement, because we remember who we really are. And that's also how we address that mental health epidemic in the next generation that is directly leading to violent crime.

Chris Christie: Trump's conduct beneath the office of the President

Vivek RAMASWAMY: Let's just speak the truth. OK? President Trump, I believe was the best president of the 21st century. We're skating on thin ice and we cannot set a precedent where the party in power uses police force to indict its political opponents. It is wrong. We have to end the weaponization of justice in this country.

CHRISTIE: We have stood up for law and order. I did it as US attorney. I did it as governor. And I am not going to bow to anyone when we have a president of the United States who disrespects the Constitution. It's important to say that the president said, Donald Trump said, "it's OK to suspend the Constitution."

Ron DeSantis: Hollowed-out cities are symbols of national decline