Nick Metz’s first week as Aurora police chief has been dominated by fallout from a controversial police shooting that left an unarmed man dead last Friday.
The chief, who came to Aurora after more than three decades with Seattle police, has spent much of his time since an officer killed Naechylus Vinzant fielding questions about the shooting.
“I wish I could say I never ran into this kind of situation in Seattle but I have,” he said.
Here is Metz’s take on a few other issues from our conversation with him yesterday.
On APD’s sizeable rule book
Aurora police officers have complained often in recent years that the rulebook dictating how they do their jobs has grown too much and complicated an already tough job.
Metz said one of his goals in the first few weeks as chief will be to launch a “comprehensive review of policies and procedures.”
Still, he said while he doesn’t want officers to view the department’s rules as a sort of door stop that is so cumbersome they don’t pay attention to it, rolling back guidelines is tough.
“You really can’t take policies back unless it’s something you find is counter productive to what you are trying to achieve,” he said.
This isn’t Seattle
Metz spent more than 30 years with Seattle police and climbed from officer all the way to an assistant chief. so it’s fair to say he not only has a keen understanding of how that department functions, but a clear fondness as well.
But, Metz said, he recognizes that Aurora is a different place, the APD is a different police department, and the agency’s culture is different from any other. That being the case, he stressed that he isn’t looking to turn this department into a Rocky Mountain version of Seattle PD.
“What worked there may not work in Aurora, or for that matter, Aurora may have something in place that may work even better,” he said.
Metz said while he may bring some ideas from Seattle to Aurora, his plan is to look at ideas from Aurora, Seattle and anywhere in between.
“I want to look at what other agencies around the country are doing,” he said. “I want to hear other innovative ideas.”
Outside oversight?
After several years of work, Aurora is set to launch an independent police review board, that while it can’t dole out discipline, will review controversial police conduct.
The board doesn’t have the type of authority some have asked for, but officials have said it could prove helpful in calming the outcry that inevitably follows police misdeeds or perceived misdeeds.
Metz said in Seattle there was an independent auditor as well as a civilian overseeing the division that ran internal affairs.
That’s far different — and those groups’ set-ups seemingly have more teeth than the Aurora plan — but Metz said comparisons between Aurora’s system and others are really apt.
“They are all so different, it is very rare to find two departments that have it set up in the same way,” he said.
Metz said when he heard about Aurora’s system he was glad to hear the civilians on the board will undergo substantial training about how police work and the existing case law that guides many of the rules officers operate under.
It seems that Chief Metz might work out well, time will tell. A civilian review board is not always a good thing, as those willing to serve ultimately have an agenda that is biased.
Unless you have actually had to enforce laws and go face to face with the criminal element, you cannot understand the stress level and dangers of the job. The Arapahoe and Adams County DA’s offices are not known for allowing Police misconduct and the abusers of power are often turned in by their peers and become outcasts.
So far, I like the way Chief Metz thinks. He’s a breath of fresh air.
I’m sorry he didn’t get a longer honeymoon phase but, criminals are relentless and law enforcement officers don’t get time to come up for air anymore before the next shoe falls.
Hopefully, Metz will soon get the time to review his command staff to see how they got where they are and will replace most of them with more competent, honest people.
I agree with you 100%. Seems like a breath of fresh air, and open to outside review. I think he handled his first week well, despite having to deal with something that has been handled poorly by other police leaders. He is protecting his officer with an allegiance to both his officer and the public. Though the officer from this weeks news will be cleared of any wrong doing Cheif Metz has not seemed rushed to make hasty public statements or leaking details needlessly.
He needs to be careful about heavily replacing his command staff. If he gives the impression that he is taking over a bad department he will turn his rank and file up to senior deputies into enemies. Aurora certainly has a better police force than Denver.
He is brand spanking new and I am not suggesting Metz turn the joint upside down at this time. However, there is one up top on his way out and a couple more that I think shouldn’t be where they are.
I’m sure he is a smart man and will want his own hand picked staff eventually instead of accepting Oates left overs.
As for the Denver/Aurora connection. I was glad to see Metz and White working together this early on. Agencies need to truly support one another because when crap goes down (like the theater shooting), you want to see blue coming from far and wide.
Chief Metz will soon realize he can’t be Mr Nice Guy with senior staff. Changes must be made, the sooner the better.