Biden meets police chiefs to talk crime

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The White House is working to make communities safer.

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to invest $37 billion to support law enforcement and crime prevention.

“As president, public safety and crime reduction is a top priority for my administration and for me,” Biden said.

The call comes after a meeting with big city police chiefs Wednesday.

“My administration is going to choose progress over politics, and communities across the country are safer as a result of that,” Biden added.

Kevin Bethel, of Philadelphia, is one of a handful of the nation’s police chiefs who met with the president.

“It was a really good meeting to be able to voice some of the issues that we’re having,” Bethel said.

Although Bethel says crime is down, he’s calling on the federal government to help get illegal guns off the street.

“But I think it’s two prongs, it’s not just us getting illegal guns off the street. It is the community now telling people to stop carrying guns,” Bethel added.

Johnny Jennings, the police chief of Charlotte, says his department is tackling mental health and juvenile crime.

“We really have to get something where we can intervene at an early age to make sure that they don’t go down that path because this is our future,” Jennings said.

President Biden is pointing to the resources his administration has provided to local law enforcement as one way to battle crime.

Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee in November’s election, has cast Democrat-run cities as havens for crime and lawlessness.

“Our country is being destroyed, and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,” Trump said.

Crime is likely to be an issue for voters in November when casting their ballots.

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