Joe Biden in Wilmington: "Repair the breach"

Vice President Joe Biden used remarks at a Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in Wilmington on Monday to address the strained relationship between black communities and police in the wake of police-involved killings in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, New York, saying "there's no reason on Earth we cannot repair the breach.

"We need to agree in this nation on two basic statements of truth," Biden said. "Cops have a right to go home at night to see their families. And two, all minorities, no matter what their neighborhood, have a right to be treated with respect and with dignity. All life matters."

Biden delivered the remarks at the Chase Center in Wilmington at the Organization of Minority Women's 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.

He spoke for about 27 minutes, but did not address the incident that occurred outside his Greenville home on Saturday night, when about 8:25 p.m. someone fired multiple gunshots from a passing car.

Secret Service and New Castle County Police are investigating.

It was noteworthy that Biden spoke in Delaware's largest city, where gun violence has only worsened in the New Year.

Wilmington recorded its third homicide of the year early Sunday when police found a man with a gunshot wound to the head inside a car on the 700 block of E. 26th St.

Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams offered brief remarks before the vice president arrived, inviting City Council President Theo Gregory on stage.

"We're going to work to unite ourselves to run this city," Williams told the crowd of Wilmington community leaders and politicians. "We want you to know we're one force and we're one force that's going to turn things around."

Others in attendance included Gov. Jack Markell, who left early to deliver remarks at another event honoring the legacy of King.

U.S. Rep. John Carney, a Delaware Democrat, delivered brief remarks. Former Attorney General Beau Biden, the vice president's eldest son who has said he will run for governor in 2016, listened as his father spoke but offered no remarks of his own.

Longtime Wilmington activist Bebe Coker introduced the vice president as "my buddy."

Biden commented extensively on the lack of trust that has only worsened since the Ferguson and Staten Island killings, and the assassination of two New York police officers in their squad car in Brooklyn on Dec. 20.

"I know when you send your children and grandchildren out in the world you worry about them," Biden told the crowd, which filled about half of a ballroom at the Chase Center. "Are they going to be safe? Will they be treated fairly. Will they be respected?"

He said there are real concerns in minority communities.

"When your child walks out that door, you have enough to fear, you have enough to contend with," Biden said. "The possibility they might be in an accident. They might fall victim to an act of crime or hit with a stray bullet of a drive-by shooting of some gangbanger. In too many neighborhoods in this country, that fear is compounded by the fear that your child may be presumed to be a gang member."

The incidents in Ferguson and New York have led to calls for reform and rallies in Delaware. Hundreds turned out to support police at a Rodney Square rally on Thursday and another one in Dover on Saturday.

Delaware NAACP leaders have called for equipping Delaware police with body-worn cameras, and have also called for special prosecutors and civilian advisory boards to review similar instances. Top Delaware State Police officials are currently studying the cost of putting body cameras on troopers.

"We still have a long ways to go," said Delaware NAACP president Richard Smith, who attended Biden's remarks on Monday. "My group is willing to sit down with all the unions, police departments in the state of Delaware, and find a way to bring this to an end where we can work together and respect each other."

During his remarks on Monday, Biden said police must return to community policing, to walk neighborhoods and improve relationships in dangerous U.S. neighborhoods.

He said it's also "the responsibility of every community to recognize the humanity" of law enforcement officers.

"There are bad actors every place you go," Biden said. "But the majority of people are decent."

Biden said the election of President Obama "represented fundamental change," and urged community leaders and police to help heal the distrust.

"We can solve this problem. It's been made out to be something even bigger than it is," Biden said. "It's real. Demanding respect is necessary. It's important. But we can solve this problem. Let's not forget who we are."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.