AURORA | A local anti-gang group is hoping a march with Aurora police can help the city avoid some of the tensions that have flared around the country in recent months between police and minority communities.
Jesus Ramirez, a gang outreach worker with the Denver-based Gang Rescue And Support Project, GRASP, said he hopes the event helps the community better connect with police.
“We are trying to bridge that gap,” he said. “We have to be united together as a community along with the police.”
The march is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Aug. 1 at Aurora Central High School and continue to Spencer Garrett Park. At Spencer Garret, 1600 Joliet St., there will be a resource fair, free food, kids activities and music.
In addition to GRASP, the city’s Aurora Youth Options, Aurora For Youth, Aurora Strong Resilience Center and Aurora’s Gang Reduction Impact Program, A-GRIP, are organizing the event, among others.
Aurora police Sgt. Chris Amsler, a spokesman for the department, said Chief Nick Metz plans on attending the march.
“We are trying to bridge that gap,” he said. “We have to be united together as a community along with the police.”
Ramirez said GRASP has sponsored a similar march in east Denver for close to 10 years.
While GRASP’s efforts in Denver and Aurora are typically focused on anti-gang measures, Ramirez said this event isn’t just about stemming gang violence. Instead, he said the focus is on getting the community and police together so they can build a better relationship.
“We have to be united together as a community along with the police,” he said.
While the march isn’t focused solely on gang intervention work, Ramirez said keeping young people out of gangs is still hugely important.
Gang violence has waned in Aurora in recent years and gang issues don’t grab headlines the way they did in the 1990s, but Ramirez said there is still plenty of work to do on that front.
“One kid that is shot over a color we think is too much,” he said.