President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought to balance minority concerns of overaggressive policing with an attempt to enlist law enforcement's help to push for stronger federal gun-control laws.

Returning to his hometown to speak to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Obama readily acknowledged gun violence remains an acute problem in Chicago that has plagued the city's reputation for years.

Yet Obama said the root of the city's gun violence rested in neighborhoods facing poverty, few job prospects, rampant drug use, broken families and easy availability of guns that youths can buy cheaper than books.

"It is true that in some cities, including here in my hometown of Chicago, gun violence and homicides have spiked, and in some cases they have spiked significantly," Obama said.
 

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