AURORA | Aurora is updating its traffic laws to align with those of the state, allowing officers in unmarked vehicles to pursue fleeing suspects and write them tickets for evading officers.
“The way the ordinance is written, it says, ‘a motor vehicle that the driver willfully increases his or her speed or extinguishes his or her lights in an attempt to elude such police officer, or willfully attempts in any other manner to elude the police officer,’” said Commander Matt Brukbacher, during a recent study session.
“We’re seeing a lot of problems with enforcement from our unmarked units that are very well marked with emergency equipment, but are not a black and white with a light bar on top,” he said.
Under current city law, eluding charges are often dismissed if the pursuing officer is not in a traditionally marked police vehicle, which has raised concerns among some council members about situations where someone is impersonating an officer.
“So they have to still demonstrate that a person reasonably would know that they’re eluding an officer, basically, regardless of the marking on the vehicle?” Coombs said.
Brukbacher said the charge involved specialized unmarked police units, and much of the fleeing was considered intentional and evident.
“The reason that this came up is specifically to my gang unit, who drive pickup trucks, but they’re unmarked, but they have a lot of (emergency) lights,” Brukbacher said. “A lot of individuals that they try to contact will take off from them and elude, and it may not rise to the level of felony eluding. So we try to charge it in a misdemeanor or in municipal court, and we’ve had judges that have read the letter of law with model traffic code and said, ‘Well, I’m sorry, you’re not in a marked car, so we can’t accept this charge.’”
Still, officials acknowledged concerns from the public about potential police impersonation.
“So, you know, there’s been situations just recently where it was someone impersonating a police officer that ended up in a tragic situation,” Councilmember Françoise Bergan said. “So if somebody has lights and is asking you to pull over, you can just call 911 to verify that.”
City Attorney Pete Schulte and Brukbacher agreed and said they can call 911 to verify the officer’s legitimacy, and that would also be added to the police report if the person does go to court.
“Frankly, we’ve had a number of scary instances of people impersonating police officers recently, and so I think people have good reason to be afraid of whether or not folks are actually officers,” Coombs said.
The ordinance is targeted at individuals with a clear intent to escape police contact, Brukbacher said. He said this usually refers to people who accelerate to get away or even turn off their headlights to hide.
“We still talk about that safety aspect and point to well-lit areas and areas like that, and those are mitigating factors,” he said. “This is truly for people who have a very clear intent to evade law enforcement contact.”
City Attorney Pete Schulte said that a resident’s due process will be respected. If someone is charged, they would receive a public defender if they cannot afford a lawyer and would be able to use evidence like calling dispatch to verify if the police officer is legitimate.
“We’re not going to be unreasonable about these,” Schulte said. “If there are extenuating circumstances, we’re definitely going to take those into account.”
Motorists and the police department must remember that a driver, using a cell phone in a moving vehicle, is in violation of state law. So — you better have hands-free dialing and calling before you try to call 911 to verify the pursuit. Be Safe Out There.
How about a public information campaign, and a set procedure? It really could be this simple.
Note to residents: While we do run some vehicles that are not the normal black and white patrol car, including pickup trucks, these vehicles do have the legal authority to conduct a traffic stop. We know there are people out there who impersonal law enforcement officers, and if you are unsure if the person behind you is real, here are some steps that will ensure your safety.
First, is it just one small light on the dash, or maybe blinking headlights? Even our unmarked units have a LOT of lights. They’re hard to miss. They also have a siren. A real police siren. It’s loud.
But it’s still possible the person could be an impersonator. If you’re unsure, please do the following.
1-turn on your emergency flashers. That’s your signal to the officer behind you that you’ve seen him or her, and are figuring out how to stop.
2-Call 911. Tell them you are unsure if this is a real officer. They will be able to tell you very quickly. You will not get in trouble for calling 911 for this. It’s not a misuse of 911, and the handsfree law has an exemption for calling 911.
3-If you don’t have a phone and are still unsure, slow down, and go to the NEAREST well lighted location where you can stop safely.
What you don’t want to do is speed or try to outrun them, because that can result in your being charged.
This should be taught in every high school, every senior center, every mom’s group. Everywhere. Heck, even put it in the paper