Groups applying to be the monitor of the Baltimore Police Department federal reform agreement made their case to the people of the city.

At a community forum at Copping State University Thursday night, 24 of the 26 applicants answered questions.

The independent monitor will oversee the consent decree and ensure reforms get done. The groups came from several cities, with many having former law enforcement officers and prosecutors on their team.

"I'm the former police chief of the Dallas Police Department. I retired last October after July 7's tragedy," said David Brown, with Kroll.

"I'm the former state's attorney for Prince George's County," said Glen Ivy with the Gansler Ivy Group.

Former high-profile law enforcement officers and monitors of current, and past consent decrees hoped to be chosen to monitor the BPD.

They made their case in front of a packed room of residents and community activists.

"There isn't a lot of trust in the process so this is about being involved, empowering our residents to influence their own changes," said Ray Kelly, with No Boundaries Coalition.

"Some of the questions came directly from the audience, and a lot of those questions included community members who said, 'What are you going to do if the Police Department is not implementing the consent decree?'" said Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, with CASA.

The question that was posed to all applicants was: Will you commit to working with community organizations?

After hearing candidates speak for more than two hours, not everyone in the room had decided which group they'd like to see monitor Baltimore's consent decree.

"People talk a good game, but I need to now research these people and have concrete evidence of what they say they're about. Let me have some visual evidence of what you say you're about," resident Valerie Keys said.

People can submit public comments on the consent decree monitor applicants online and through the mail until July 17.

All the monitor applications are available on the consent decree website.