Gun Violence: Biden Meet Police Chiefs

United States President, Joe Biden met with U.S City Police chiefs, elected officials and a community intervention expert at the White House over the rising gun violence in the country.

Gatekeepers News reports that Biden’s Monday meeting comes amid the rising crime surge in the U.S.

According to reports, between July 10-11 in Chicago 40 people were shot, 11 fatally. Three people died and 11 were injured by gun violence in Philadelphia. And in New York City, three teenagers were killed in separate incidents.

“We recognise that we have to come together for the first responsibility of democracy: to keep each other safe,” Biden said before the meeting. “And that’s what the American people are looking for when it comes to reducing violent crime and gun violence”.

Gatekeepers News reports that last month, Biden announced a push for revisions to U.S firearms laws and unveiled measures to cut the availability of firearms used in crimes.

In April, the United States president reeled out steps to hold firearms dealers accountable for selling guns without completing background checks and will help states use COVID-19 emergency funds to hire more police officers.

The executive order Biden signed in April also include a push by the Justice Department to better control self-assembled “ghost guns“.

White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki while giving an update on Monday’s meeting, said: “During the meeting, the president will discuss his crime reduction strategy which gives cities and states historic funding through the American Rescue Plan and a range of tools they can use to improve public safety in their communities including support for community violence intervention programmes, summer employment opportunities, and other proven methods to reduce crime.”

The meeting had Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who recently won the Democratic nomination and is likely to be the next New York City mayor, along with the mayors of Washington, DC, and San Jose, California, in attendance.

Also present at the meeting were Police chiefs from Chicago and US mid-size cities Memphis, Wilmington, and Newark and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the US’s top law enforcement official.