AURORA | After a bullet smashed her living room window last month, state Sen. Rhonda Fields paid a surprise visit to the Aurora City Council’s March 13 meeting to urge members to do more about gun violence.
“My window was shattered. My feeling of security of being safe at home has been shattered,” she said Monday. “I don’t feel safe in my own home. And I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.”
Aurora police spokesman Matthew Wells-Longshore later wrote in an email that police dug part of the bullet out of a wall in Fields’ home last week and stored it as evidence.
He said police believe the bullet strayed from the scene of a Feb. 20 road rage shooting, which occurred in the 1100 block of Sable Boulevard. Fields lives in the Chambers Heights neighborhood of Aurora, nearby the location of the shooting.
While no one in Fields’ home was hurt, the bullet struck a china cabinet, and Fields said a wall had to be further damaged to remove the projectile. She said she wasn’t home when the shooting happened and contacted police after she returned and realized what had taken place.
Aurora experienced more than 150 non-fatal shootings and close to 40 murders involving a gun last year, according to police. Shootings have become a frequent topic of discussion at council meetings since 2020, as rates of gun violence have crept upward.
Fields said Monday that officers and schools should have the resources needed to be able to prevent crime. She later said she would like to see Aurora police make greater use of license plate readers and consider introducing gunfire detection technology like Denver’s ShotSpotter system.
“I’m personally hearing gunfire too often,” she said. “And so that would be one thing I would like for the city to do is to invest in that kind of technology.”
Councilmember Dustin Zvonek, who chairs the council’s public safety policy committee, said Tuesday that a technology similar to ShotSpotter was being considered for Aurora and that a vendor would present at the next committee meeting. The committee discussed the possibility of rolling out ShotSpotter in Aurora last year.
Fields also mentioned the importance of making sure public schools are fully staffed and said council members should be more willing to acknowledge and prioritize the problem of gun violence.
During this year’s legislative session, Fields has supported gun control bills that would raise the age for buying firearms and make it easier for victims of violence to sue gun manufacturers. She said she is also sponsoring bills that would crack down on “ghost guns” and restrict access to assault weapons.
While Fields said she trusted the police to investigate the incident, she mentioned how she has faced threats of violence in the past and found the shooting at her home “unsettling.”
“I can tell you it’s very traumatic,” she said.
Low-life scum can travel anywhere.
Hope thathe shooter is found and sentenced to prison for the safety of everyone.
Shot Spotter is great, but you have to have cops to respond to the reports. APD is grossly understaffed. And stop trying to pass more gun laws, criminals could give two craps about your laws.
You’re right. So, the only real solution seems to be get rid of the guns. Guns don’t kill people; people with guns kill people.
cOmMoN sEnSssSsSsSeeee durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Following that convoluted line of thought we should bring back prohibition and outlaw cigarettes
Absolutely hilarious. Rhonda Fields was one of the main drivers behind the “Police Reform Bill” that drove thousands of officers out of police work. She and her friend, Leslie Herrod, have never looked back at the damage they have caused. The knee jerk bill was passed in an extreme hurry with virtually no input from law enforcement. No one can tell you what the wording in the bill means and yet there are many punishments for officers who err. Now, the legislature wants to get tough on crime with officers they no longer have. Now, law enforcement has to take people they would not have taken in the past and get them out on the street with minimal training. Now, it is difficult to get officers off to do training they should get on a regular basis. Now, officers are getting prosecuted for simple things like just touching a suspect’s neck. The legislature made it clear that they don’t want people touched by defining basically everything as a use of force. The police understand that the legislature is not behind them and was so arrogant that they didn’t even want law enforcement to have a say in what was passed.
The narrative said that the police are stopping and arresting too many people of color. The narrative ignored the studies on who was involved in crime, particularly violent crime. The narrative says that minor crimes should be ignored because too many black people resist and fight and get hurt. The narrative discourages chasing suspects, even on foot, because too many people get hurt. The narrative doesn’t want police officers in schools because some kids might be traumatized by the sight of a police officer. The narrative wants all law enforcement to be proportionate by race. Unfortunately, that is not possible if we are going to address crime. City Council said that we are going to use data based information to fight crime. They ignored the fact that the police have been using crime data to allocate resources for at least fifty years. Notice that they have not been releasing statistics from their data based policing since the initial arrests were not racially proportionate.
You should understand that daily minor stops by police officers are what keeps crime at a low roar. The criminal knows that he might be stopped for his expired license plate and that the officer will find that he is wanted. The fact that many officers are shot on traffic stops should tell you what kind of people are often being stopped. Criminals who commit crime are often the same people who violate minor laws. Contacting them and getting them off of the street is what helps to protect you. If I find one wanted burglar as result of a traffic stop, it may protect many innocent citizens. Getting one prolific burglar off of the street protects as many as two hundred citizens from burglary in one year.
The police reform bill is a piece of work. No one can tell you what it means. If you read it, you will find many cases where basic law enforcement functions cannot legally be done. It is in conflict with the police guidance established by the Supreme Court. The legislature gave all kinds of limitations on police use of force in crowd control. Yet, if you read the bill, you understand that the police can no longer use any force to disperse an unruly crowd. The police can only protect themselves and arrest people. They can no longer even push a crowd full of rioters. They can only arrest. That becomes very difficult when the police are outnumbered. So, if you have a business, understand that the police cannot protect your business. Now, understand that in the past, chiefs have shown that they have no ability to understand use of force and crowd control. They have shown no leadership in controlling and guiding their officers in use of force in crowd control. They have simply let officers run riot with no tactics that make sense. As a police trainer, I understand where the responsibility lies.
The reform bill outlawed the use of a chokehold because an officer knelt on a suspect’s neck and shoulder for 9 minutes. His actions were clearly illegal. There was no need for the complete outlawing of neck restraints. Neck restraints have prevented unnecessary deaths in police work. I personally have used a neck restraint against a suspect with a knife to render him unconscious. I did not shoot him. He thanked me later. The medical studies have not backed up the fear the legislature has shown for neck restraints. Citizens are using chokeholds on the street to control criminals. They are seen as heroes when they intervene and no one complains about their use of a neck restraint. Kids who are wrestling routinely grab each other around the neck and no one panics. Yet, now, if an officer instinctively grabs a suspect briefly around the neck, he/or as he is being prosecuted or fired. The wording in the police reform bill on chokeholds includes anything that interferes with the suspect’s breathing. That means that it can be interpreted that if I am on top of a suspect and he was trouble breathing, I could be charged or fired. Let me explain something. When I am fighting with someone, I don’t want them to be able to breathe. Wrestling, judo, and jujitsu all use the principle of putting weight on your opponent so they can’t breathe well and fight well. Not being able to breathe well for a minute isn’t going to kill you. Hold your breathe for a minute. Panic sets in but you don’t die. Now, after an officer gets control, he/she must make sure that the suspect can breathe and must get take all possible measures to insure the suspect’s well being. Almost all suspects who die in struggles with the police have underlying health problems or drugs on board. In the past, a fellow police trainer volunteered his expertise on a wording that could be used by the legislature to restrict use of the chokehold. The legislators declined his input and put out a prior bill that actually made the chokehold legal in almost every case. They have no idea what they are doing.
It will probably take at least ten years for us to recover from the damage the legislature has done with the police reform bill. First, someone has to stand up and face the facts. Right now, the chiefs have shown that they do not have the courage, integrity, or knowledge to stand up and voice the problems with the changes the legislature made. Since the chiefs were responsible for the lack of leadership and training that have caused police misconduct, it is not surprising. Chiefs have lied about the amount and quality of training that they have given their officers for many years. After awhile, the lack of training and the lack of ethical leadership takes a toll on a police department.
I have no sympathy for Rhonda Fields. She and the other legislators doomed the citizenry to a more dangerous life out of their uninformed rage and arrogance. She now has a little insight into the fear she and her friends have hoisted upon the rest of us. If they had any conscience, they would repeal their “police reform bill”.
I can’t keep your bloviations straight; is this a cut n paste of previous rants? Where in the article is there any mention of this ‘narrative’ you keep referencing about police and the legislature? Fields’ only related comment was that she trusts the police.
She is an advocate for common sense gun laws. Wouldn’t you be interested in reducing the carnage caused by firearms if your child was shot to death? Open your perspective and get off your one-trick pony.
I guess that you aren’t paying attention.
just tired of your tirades is all
cOmMoN sEnSsssSSSsssSSSSSSe
100 percent agree with you GeneD
Hold up, so the architect of the house bill that tied the cops’ hands and made them afraid to do their jobs is complaining about crime??? Oh man, talk about irony.
so you are ok with not holding cops accountable, letting them do whatever they feel like doing (so long as it’s not done to you) that about right?
Only a few more common sense gun control laws and we will be able to stop these criminals from breaking the other laws!!
it would be a start. The madness of I’VE GOT TO HAVE MY GUN and YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE 2ND AMENDMENT is really getting in my ‘craw’
There are no “Common Sense” gun laws. Just like being a “little Pregnant”. How about we use the laws that we already have and put criminals in PRISON.
“My faith in my security, of being, feeling safe at home, has been shattered.” Wow now there’s a news flash. You’re telling me it takes a bullet through your front window as a lawmaker to realize what kind of societal standards the rest of us deal with every day. What else does it take to see these problems are here? And these opportunist lawbreakers are well established in the opportunity zones, one that Sen. Rhonda Fields is just now learning she lives in. North Aurora is where this high crime/ trash everywhere/ homeless neighborhoods setting up shop, abandoned stolen cars, business is booming. But a gunshot mixing with a lawmaker’s China cabinet! Holly smoke now that blows our minds. And City council must now act, that’s rich!
and what are you contributing to try and improve the situation??
Doug it’s Simple – Vote her and other irresponsible lawmakers out. She’s done more damage to weaken the ability of what we expect of reliable police support. Now she gets to reap what she has sowed. With her gone it will “improve the situation”.
Isn’t she a sitting senator? She should do something.
Shot Spotter is expensive trash. No more toys until they start using the ones they have.
I’ve read that as well. Somewhat effective but cops can’t get there fast enough and the results of it’s use are very spotty. Might be better if everytime you were stopped for a traffic violation you had to answer: Do you have a weapon. If yes, do you have a permit. If yes and visible the SN# should be run like a car license to ascertain ownership. (listen for the 2nd amenders to come out in droves now)
Fields’ disdain for police and her criminal-friendly platform was on full display in her op-ed published in this very paper.
https://sentinelcolorado.com/opinion/rhonda-fields-looking-beyond-police-racism-and-brutality-to-a-day-we-are-all-free/
She has done everything in her power to bully and disadvantage officers, decimate the public safety departments, and push wrongheaded policy only to now find herself in a crime wave of her own making.
This part stood out: “This is why it is so maddening when people say it’s ‘just a few bad apples.’ The issue is far more widespread than those in power want to admit. And by dismissing these unacceptable acts of brutality and derogation as one-off events, they are undermining the necessary conversations required to enact real change.”
Is this the change you sought, Senator Fields? She hated the police then and she hates them now.
Blaze- What you are seeing is evidence of Sen Fields political arrogance. This is a great example – she’s determined crime is eating up the neighborhood and telling local city council you’ve failed. This is unacceptable…. And now council this is your chance, and you better do something about it, cause I’m a state Senator.
what part of “police racism and brutality” are you missing??