Former Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay, now chief of the police department in Wichita, Kan., has received an invitation to visit the White House after reports on a community cookout organized by police, Black Lives Matter activists and other members of the community went viral on social media.
The Obama administration asked Ramsay to come to a White House meeting on Friday to discuss community policing, the Wichita Eagle reported. But Ramsay wasn't able to attend because he had a commitment to serve as the justice of the peace at a wedding, Wichita city spokesman Ken Evans told the Wichita Eagle newspaper.
Ramsay will try to reschedule the White House visit, Evans said.
"It's an ongoing discussion, and he's very interested in participation later," Evans told the newspaper.
The First Steps Community Cookout in Wichita took place after Ramsay met with representatives of a group that had been planning a protest for that night. Ramsay has said he hopes to continue building the relationship between the community and police, and KSN-TV in Wichita reported that he plans to have four more events in the next month.
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Ramsay, a Duluth native, was Duluth police chief for nearly 10 years and was with the department for two decades. He left in January to take the job in Wichita.
