By Jennifer Keiper, WLS News

(CHICAGO) During a Tuesday stop in Chicago, President Obama addresses the International Association of Chiefs of Police telling them that they often get scapegoated for the broader failures of society and the criminal justice system.

He says an effort has to be made to go after racial disparities at the root and that giving teenagers summer jobs is cheaper than locking them up for years.

“I live on the South Side of Chicago.  So, my house is pretty close to some places where shootings take place.  Because that’s real, we’ve got to get on top of it before it becomes an accelerating trend and that’s why I’ve asked my outstanding Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, a former prosecutor, to work aggressively with law enforcement,” said President Obama.

While discussing federal gun control proposals, President Obama, tells the law enforcement crowd that he chose to focus on three things, “First, making sure you’ve got the resources you need to get the job done.  Second, criminal justice reforms that will make the system smarter and fair, and third, reducing the risk your officers face in the field with common sense gun safety reforms.”

The President says word of irresponsible actions by police quickly spreads but many cases of effective police work rarely make it on the evening news.  He has also urged the audience not to believe claims that he’s out to take away everybody’s guns.  He says he wants to make sure that criminals don’t get them.

He tells the audience at Chicago’s McCormick Place that, “We can’t stop every crime.  There is evil in the world.”

The President will take part in a roundtable discussion and attend a fundraiser before leaving Chicago Wednesday morning.

@ 2015 WLS News