Alliance of Black ministers calls for change with Aurora police department

An alliance of Black ministers is giving Aurora’s leaders an ultimatum on reforming the city’s embattled police department, saying it will take steps to remove politicians who don’t act and will push for state and federal authorities to get involved.

The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, in a news release, said the Aurora Police Department has been plagued by “longstanding, systemic, intrinsic racism and injustice.”

The calls for change came a week after a video taken by a bystander showed officers forcing four young girls to lie facedown on the ground as they wailed for their mothers, while performing what they thought was a stop for a stolen vehicle. The department’s police chief, Vanessa Wilson, admitted later that the officers identified the wrong vehicle and should have used better judgment once they realized they had made a mistake.

Bishop Jerry Demmer, president of the alliance, said he’s calling for Wilson to fire all the officers involved in the botched detainment — although after speaking with the chief, he said he knows that will not happen.

The alliance is looking at several options, including petitions to recall elected officials, as well as asking Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser to request a federal investigation into the department.

The recent controversy involving the young Black girls comes as the department faces investigations at the city, state and federal level over its handling of Elijah McClain’s violent arrest last year. His death sparked massive protests in the city over the past two months.