GREENSBORO, N.C. — A packed house at Peeler Recreation Center for a message that packed a punch.
Soon-to-be Chief Brian James responded openly to questions from the people he's about to protect.
"See what happened in the past, make sure that the mistakes we've made in the past that we don't make those same mistakes again," said James.
A number of topics came up - ranging from homelessness to sexual and domestic violence, and the violent crime rate surfaced. Several people brought up past incidents like the death of Marcus Smith.
James explained that because that case is pending litigation, he's unable to talk about it.
Community members also made comments and asked questions about community outreach.
"It actually feels like you're in an ivory tower like we accuse professors of being not in touch even though your roots are grassroots here," one man in the audience said over the mic.
James let him finish his question before he answered.
"Did I have to be here tonight? No, absolutely not. I chose to be here," James said, "But to say that I'm talking from an ivory tower - let me just say this, and I'm just gonna tell you how it is. If you haven't noticed I'm a black man and when I take this uniform off, and I put on a pair of jeans and tennis shoes and a t-shirt, I'm still black."
"How do we increase dignity safety and respect for transgender and gender non-conforming people?" Jess St. Louis asked.
St. Louis told the crowd and James a story about what happened to someone she knew during a traffic stop in Georgia.
"What you’re talking about is very important. If any officers did what happened with the officer in East Point, Georgia, we would fire that officer," said James.
Overall, many were pleased with the outcome of the forum, and are looking forward to the work chief James will do.
"I don't think he has the responsibility to fix the past," said Brenda Jones.
"I'm so grateful that Chief James came to talk with us and engage in really hard, powerful conversations," said St. Louis.
"He's going to inherit a lot of problems that were here when he took office but we got to give him a chance to do what he needs to do to make it a better community for us," said Sandra Hill.
Chief James said during the forum that he plans to hold several other meetings in February, that may run into March, to get a better feel for what the Greensboro community as a whole feels.
"I want to try to get a cross-section of what everybody is thinking and feeling in Greensboro around safety around police response," he said.
James will assume his duties as chief February 1.