Former Vice President Joe Biden met with about a dozen community leaders in Wilmington Monday.
The meeting at Bethel AME Church came in the wake of protests in Wilmington and around the nation sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
The presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee told the group if elected, he plans to create a police oversight board during his first 100 days in office, building off a similar effort during the Obama administration.
“We set up, in the Justice Department, the ability for the Civil Rights Division to go in and look at the practices and policies of police departments. That’s why we were able to stop stop-and-frisk," said Biden. “Re-establish that with more teeth in it. Because we also have to fundamentally change the way in which police are trained. ”
Logan Herring, Kingswood Community Center executive director and CEO of REACH Riverside, was among the leaders at the meeting. He says he would like to hear more about that idea.
“Going from the federal level to local level, that will be tough. I’d like to see the plan for it. Every city is going to be different. Every jurisdiction is going to be different – how they adopt it and them champion it," said Herring "But I think the premise, the intention behind it is great.”
The meeting lasted a little more than 90 minutes with Biden listening to comments and questions for the most of event before speaking.
Herring says he appreciated that Biden listened and took notes – as well as committing to bring young people into the conversation.
"He's definitely in tune with what is occuring. And I think that is commendable because he's actually listening. He wasn't up there pontificating," said Herring.
The event came one day after Biden visited Market St. in Wilmington where the majority of damage done Saturday night occurred after protests took a destructive turn.
