DETROIT – Police community leaders held a table talk event on Saturday in Detroit to discuss gun safety in an effort to decrease gun violence.
The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) hosted this event and had speakers discuss the rise of unintentional child gun deaths and proper gun storage. The organization gave away 100 gun locks to those who attended.
The non-profit partnered with Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit to put on this event.
This year alone Detroit police say 16 people under the age of 17 have been killed in shootings. Five of the 16 deadly shootings were accidental.
“We want everybody to be safe, one baby is too many and we’ve lost too many,” said Kyra Joy Hope, the president of NOBLE’s Detroit chapter and DPD’s second deputy chief.
Unintentional child gun deaths can be avoided by locking up unsecured guns, normalizing conversations about gun safety, and taking preventative common sense actions.
“We have far too many kids killed by guns because they had easy access and this is one of the platforms NOBLE is pushing hard,” said Ricky Brown, the Detroit chapter Vice President and Chief of Police of Detroit Transit.
The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives has more than 3000 members across the country.
Nationally guns have now surpassed car crashes as the number one cause of death among children in the U.S.
For more information on the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, you can visit their website by clicking here.