AURORA | City lawmakers on Monday will hold a final vote on whether to create an Office of Public Safety Accountability, a permanent monitoring office to oversee police, fire, 911 and detention.
The proposal has so far garnered unanimous approval among a city council that rarely sees such agreement among issues affecting the Aurora Police Department.
The office’s duties will include investigating critical public safety incidents that result in serious injury or death, as well as ongoing reviews of public safety operations. It also will share information with the public, provide liaisons to impacted families and conduct community engagement.
Creation of the office follows years of controversy and efforts to improve accountability and transparency in police and fire departments after the death of Elijah McClain in 2019, which, among other cases, prompted state investigators to find a pattern of racial bias and excessive use of force.
Since 2022, the city police reform efforts have been reviewed by a contracted monitor, which has released periodic progress reports about training and policy updates. The April report found that police and fire departments are substantially compliant with the consent decree’s mandates.
The report also identified the need for the city to implement an independent monitoring system to sustain the changes and progress.
Community members have so far been mostly supportive of the new office, but some did raise some criticisms.
Cassandra Heil, from the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee, called the office “a band-aid on an infection,” and said she opposes it because of its inability to enforce change or consequences on the departments it oversees. Heil added that community involvement should be more central to the office.
“(The office) can document problems, write reports and make recommendations, but it cannot stop police misconduct from actually happening,” Heil said. “If neither the community nor the office has the power to create change, then this bill cannot actually deliver accountability.”
MiDian Shofner, founder of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, said the office has some strong provisions, like the notification requirement and family liaison, but was concerned about the lack of authority and that there isn’t enough community engagement.
The ordinance establishing the office requires at least two community engagement sessions each year. It also requires the office to notify families of a critical incident within 48 hours and assign a liaison.
“If we’re not invited in to collaborate intentionally and thoughtfully and to curate what this community is truly asking you, not conceptually, but practically, I’m not sure we’re going to have an accountability system. We’re just going to have a spectator system,” Shofner said.
There were also comments in support of the accountability office as a step in the right direction. Aaron Futrell said the office’s ability to provide independent oversight and share information with the community “is exactly the type of accountability that healthy institutions embrace.”
“Aurora has a chance to demonstrate that we’ve learned from our past and that we are serious about building a future where transparency, accountability, and public trust are not just points, but guiding principles,” he said.
While conservative council members had previously questioned what protections the ordinance will have to keep city politics from influencing the new office, lawmakers unanimously supported the ordinance two weeks ago.
The office will be overseen by a manager, who will be hired by the city manager and report administratively to the city manager’s office, while providing information to the city council’s public safety committee.
In addition to investigating critical incidents, the office will review and report on all public safety functions on an ongoing basis, including “use of force reviews, policy development, and department operations and performance meetings.” It will also release annual reports on its findings, as well as take complaints and commendations.
“The office’s duties will include investigating critical public safety incidents that result in serious injury or death,” but how is serious injury defined and does that include accidental deaths not caused by city actions to which fire rescue personnel respond. The office’s duties include ongoing reviews of public safety operations, previously the duty of the Chiefs and the City Manager and of Council itself and by being an additioanl layer of review will only complicate the process and reduce the authority and responsibility of the Chiefs, the City Manager, and indeed of Council itself. The Office of Public Safety accountabiliity also will share information with the public confusing the public as to whom they should approach to find information from open records requests to comments on incidents. Will one go to the public information offiers of the Departments, the City Manager’s office, the Mayor’s? Will this new office have to clear comments or reports through the City Manager and if so what is the point, and if not have we just created conflict? The new office will provide liaisons to impacted families which means what? What will be the queslifications of such persons and will they be full time staff or contracted employees and how long will they be assigned and what will be their duties. This sounds very supportive but what truely does it mean? Fianlly the new office will conduct community engagement. Very nice, but what power will it have to implement community suggested changes, and if no such power will this just be a method of shining the public on? Sounds to me like a large ongoing expense to pretend something is being done while actually doing nothing. Why not just insist the Department Chiefs and the City manager actually manage?