“As national crime rates increase, including homicides, car jackings, and assaults, now is the time to support local law enforcement through passage of bipartisan, bicameral commonsense legislation,” the Democrats wrote Friday in a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., that was first shared with NBC News.

The letter is the latest sign that Democrats, fighting to preserve their fragile majority this fall, are concerned about rising crime and the “defund the police” messaging from progressives that contributed to the party’s loss of 13 House seats in the 2020 election.

Two vulnerable moderate Democrats — Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Cindy Axne of Iowa — spearheaded the letter, which was also addressed to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the top Democrat and the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.