Edit: The ordinance regarding sugary drinks in kids meals has once again been postponed. The ordinance will now be discussed in February 2021.
AURORA | The Aurora City Council will take up public information protocols Monday, details of an independent investigation into the death of Elijah McClain.
A held-over proposal to limit sugary drinks for kids meals, which originally appeared on the agenda, is now set to be discussed early next year.
The city’s new investigation will primarily examine city policies related to McClain’s arrest, including use of force by police officers and the use of ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics. McClain was stopped by a trio of officers on Aug. 24, 2019 in the 1900 block of Billings Street after a passerby called 911 and described him as “sketchy.” Officers placed McClain, who was unarmed and never suspected of a crime, into a now-banned control hold that caused him to briefly faint. He went into cardiac arrest shortly thereafter and died at a hospital six days later.
The city council’s public safety committee first took up the resolution last week. Monday, city lawmakers will take formal action on the new query.
“The independent investigation team will be made up of at least three consultants who have expertise in independent critical incident investigations, law enforcement and public safety accountability, civil rights, police and EMT training and procedures, use of force, and/or criminal justice,” according to the resolution.
Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, will lead the investigative panel.
Smith headed special litigation for the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice for five years in the Obama Administration, according to a biography posted on his group’s website. He helped lead the probe into the civil investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department after the death of Michael Brown in August 2014.
The State attorney general and FBI are also conducting investigations into the McClain death.
Prior to the investigation vote, the council is slated to discuss how it will decide which information, public safety and beyond, will be divulged to the public.
“Given the COVID-19 pandemic and issues surrounding law enforcement, along with the normal business of the city, Council Member Nicole Johnston felt a discussion regarding protocols for disseminating information to our constituents is needed,” according to the meeting’s agenda.
Among the recommendations is all information provided to the city council from the Aurora Police Department or city management will be clearly marked “public”, “held” or “confidential.”
“For example, if the City Manager sends an email to the Council announcing that the city has received a sizable grant from the federal government, he may mark that communication to be ‘held,’” according to city documents. “The federal government may not want it announced until a date/time certain, and so it will be Agenda Item 5a 2 held until the city, on behalf of the Mayor and City Council, can issue a press release or appropriate announcement.”
It was postponed from an April meeting.
The proposed change in city law requires restaurants to offer children ordering kids meals water or milk. Sugary drinks could only be served by request. It makes Aurora the largest municipality in the state to impose such restrictions. Health officials have been supportive of the proposal, saying “sugary drinks (should be) the exception, not the rule.”
— Staff Reporter Quincy Snowdon contributed to this report