AURORA | Aurora lawmakers on Thursday moved forward with a proposal to formalize how city council members publicly respond to police shootings, advancing a resolution offering condolences to grieving families while stating legal limits on what officials can say about active cases.
The measure, approved unanimously by the council’s three-member Public Safety Committee, comes after months of contentious meetings and sustained pressure from activists and families demanding accountability in officer-involved shooting cases involving the Aurora Police Department.
A spokesperson for many of the activists said the resolution shows what they see as progress in addressing the issue, but it’s far from what the group has regularly demanded.
“…resolutions are gestures,” spokesperson MiDian Shoffner said in a statement Friday. “They do not, on their own, create safety, accountability, or justice. What will matter most is the language this Council ultimately adopts and, more importantly, the actions that follow.”
18th Judicial District Community Corrections Board chairperson and local activist Candice Bailey said the proposed resolution is the “lowest bar” city lawmakers can offer the public.
“It’s word salad,” Bailey said. “It’s nothing more than a performative move to appease people.”
She’s been a regular voice in Aurora demanding substantive change in the police department, including independent oversight of police operations and controversies.
Bailey said newly elected progressive members of the city council need to do much more.
“I want this progressive city council to dig in,” she said.
Public Safety committee members had little comment about the proposal, sponsored by Councilmember Rob Andrews. He said it was an attempt to show some form of “support of the folks this has happened to.”
City officials said he and city lawyers crafted the text of the resolution.
If adopted by the full city council, the resolution would establish a consistent public stance acknowledging the tragedy of officer-involved shootings, expressing sympathy for those affected while detailing that ongoing litigation prevents any other public comment.
“City Council stands in mourning with those who are grieving the loss of a child, parent, family member or friend,” the proposed resolution states.
City lawmakers have faced repeated criticism during public meetings, often interrupted by protesters calling for discipline of officers, policy changes and broader reforms. The tension has been fueled in part by high-profile cases, including the 2024 fatal shooting of Kilyn Lewis and others, after the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
The resolution states that while individual council members may hold personal opinions, the body as a whole “must refrain from commenting publicly on any matters with pending claims or litigation” to protect the city’s legal interests.
It also states that Colorado law essentially requires the city to defend officers and cover financial judgments in such cases.
The move reflects an attempt to create a balance for council members, who have said they are constrained in their official roles even as public expectations grow.
In recent months, meetings have drawn regular appearances from a coalition of activists and family members, including relatives of Lewis, who was shot by SWAT officer Michael Dieck during his arrest in May 2024. Dieck told investigators he mistook a cellphone in Lewis’ hand for a firearm. Investigators later determined the shooting was legally justified, and Police Chief Todd Chamberlain previously said the officer did not violate department policy.
Lewis’ family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Arapahoe County District Court, alleging the shooting was unjustified and avoidable. Attorneys for the family argue that the cellphone was clearly identifiable and that other officers on the scene did not perceive a threat, in that they did not fire on Lewis.
That lawsuit is one of at least two recently filed by families of Black men killed in confrontations with Aurora police, underscoring concerns raised by civil rights advocates about use of force and racial disparities.
The family of the Rajon Belt-Stubblefield, fatally shot by Aurora police Aug. 30, 2025 during a traffic stop, has said publicly they are considering a wrongful death suit against the city as well.
Police records show that Aurora police fatally shot 21 people from 2022 through 2025.
Police fatally shot a Black man in Aurora Thursday. Officers said the 23-year-old man was in the midst of a mental health crisis yesterday and was fatally shot while stabbing a veteran canine officer in the head with a butcher knife, critically injuring him.
Activists have repeatedly demanded the city council take a more active role in past police-shooting incidents, including reopening cases, disciplining officers and accelerating police reforms outlined in a state-mandated consent decree. That agreement was imposed after an investigation by the Colorado Attorney General found “patterns and practices” of Aurora police using excessive force, particularly against people of color.
Council members, however, have repeatedly said they lack authority over individual cases and cannot intervene in ongoing legal matters.
The proposed resolution seeks to clarify that position, sponsors said Thursday.
Besides offering sympathy, the resolution states that the shootings “affect the fabric of our entire community.”
Shoffner said her group is pleased to see the resolution offering now, but she chided the previous city council for dismissing a similar effort last year when city lawmakers spiked an effort created by city council Democrats.
“The removal of that resolution was an action that deepened harm and signaled a reluctance to publicly reckon with the realities our community faces.,” Shoffner said. “Councilwoman Stephanie Hancock motioned for the removal of that resolution in June 2024. The fact that a member of that same body has now voted to advance a resolution forward suggests a shift that may reflect a growing recognition that acknowledgment matters.”
The controversy and persistent public appearances and criticism at city council meetings led to a standoff between members of the former city council last year and activists.
Shoffner won a court decision last month after she sued the city after they ended public comment segments of city council meetings and made other changes in an effort to prevent the activists from regularly speaking out.
A new city council majority elected in November reversed all of that, allowing the activists, and anyone, to address the city council during its regular meetings.
For now, activists said they will continue to push for substantive change in police policy.
“We remain watchful, but also hopeful, that this moment can open the door to meaningful collaboration,” Shoffner said.
The full council is expected to consider the measure in the coming weeks.
I would like the Sentinel to dig a little bit more. There were 21 people fatally shot between 2022 and 2025. What color were all of these individuals and how many of them sued the APD afterward? Of the fatal shooting recipients, how many lawsuits were brought by non-black recipients? How much has Aurora paid out for these 21 people who were fatally shot?
While I agree with Mr. Campbell that police shootings need overall measurement to reveal statistical patterns, I also recognise that police shootings are all individual events that reguire considerable analysis by the community, police department, and hopefully a community organization tasked with oversight of the department’s progress in particular to the consent decree. This is important for at least these two reasons: 1) We must address progress toward the consent decree because it is evident that a racist patern of behavior existed to cause the consent decree in the first place, and 2) We as citizens must know how city settlements are affecting our cty budgets. I for one see the need for deescalation tactics in the entire nation that serve both the safety of officers and citizens regardless of race, gender, or any other personal characteristics of the police or that of the citizens!