For Baltimore police, contrition and apology seem to be the order of the day, and in West Baltimore Lt. Col. Melvin Russell was on point.

As a throng of people in red shirts listened (participants in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church), the veteran officer addressed them last night outside the Ames Memorial United Methodist Church at the corner of Baker and Carey streets.

He spoke about the breakdown in trust between police and community members that has been in the spotlight since Freddie Gray’s death.

“It’s no secret we weren’t doing the best job anyway. . .we really have to step up our game,” Russell said. “For years, we just weren’t listening. And I am including myself and the faith-based community in that also.”

Russell promised to schedule one of his “Day of Hope” events in West Baltimore this summer. One of these outdoor festivals he scheduled, in East Baltimore in 2012, followed two Darley Park homicides involving children. It featured a moon bounce, live music, a free food give-away, HIV and blood pressure testing and a (friendly) visit by a Foxtrot police helicopter.

As he spoke, Pastor Rodney Hudson sat on the church’s side door steps and listened, along with the Rev. Cynthia M. Moore-Koikoi.

Russell was assigned last week by Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts to mend fences between citizens and the Western Police District a few blocks away on Mount Street.

As the police officer headed to City Hall (where his boss was sounding the same theme of trust and collaborative partnerships with communities at a City Council hearing), the church group took off for a peace march to North Avenue, singing, “This Little Light of Mine,” as they walked.

“There have been 45 murders in Baltimore in 40 days,” said one of the organizers. “This is what we’re here about.”