The controversial anti-crime group the Guardian Angels announced last month it would open a Wilmington Chapter. Monday, leadership from the group met with Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings and City Council President Theo Gregory.
"It was sort of one of those meetings where you sit down to try to get to know each other, and take out that whole uneasy feeling where you don’t know each other. It just gave us a chance to try to get to know each other a little bit," said Marcus Dent, the regional director of the Guardian Angels referring to his meeting with police Monday.
Wilmington City Council President Theo Gregory, a possible mayoral candidate, say down with the group after it met with police chief Bobby Cunmings. Gregory says he sees the Guardian Angels as another group - like the peacekeepers or a neighborhood association - trying to interrupt crime in some of the city’s troubled neighborhoods.
"It was a good meeting. I was impressed. I got some particulars that I needed to have answered. But it was a good meeting," he said.
Among the things Gregory wanted to know were - would the group ask for resources or authority from the city? The answer to both questions, Gregory said, was no.
Alex Coppadge, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office told Delaware Public Media in an emailed statement, that the City supports groups like the Guardian Angels that try to engage with the community and battle crime.
Dent says his group will meet with the Wilmington Police Department again in 30 days.
