Aurora police facing review

State will investigate, city plans an analysis and family files a federal lawsuit

The Aurora Police Department on Tuesday learned of another investigation from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, announced it would be participating in a city-led review and was hit with a federal lawsuit from the parents of Elijah McClain — all within a four-hour span.

The two investigations announced Tuesday are the first to look at the department’s policies and practices as a whole. Already, four other ongoing investigations at every level of government regarding the death of McClain are in motion.

The state’s investigation and city’s review come after a slew of lawsuits alleging excessive force, months of intermittent protests, data that shows disproportionate use of force against Black people, international attention on McClain’s death and several highprofile incidents of officer misconduct.

“We embrace this opportunity for change and are committed to evolve for the betterment of our profession, our community and the residents we serve,” Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson said in a statement Tuesday. “Law enforcement is being evaluated across the nation and we want to ensure that our entire community feels that APD is an agency that shows dignity and respect and can

be a role model for 21st Century policing.”

According to city data, Aurora taxpayers since 2012 have shelled out more than $6.5 million to settle 24 lawsuits and claims related to the Aurora Police Department. Several other lawsuits are pending against the city for police actions, including the lawsuit filed by McClain’s parents.

“Aurora’s unconstitutional conduct on the night of August 24, 2019, is part of a larger custom, policy, and practice of racism and brutality, as reflected by its conduct both before and after its murder of Elijah McClain, a young Black man,” the lawsuit states.

Duo of inquiries

The attorney general has been “investigating patterns and practices of the Aurora Police Department that might deprive individuals of their constitutional rights under state or federal law” for several weeks, spokesman Lawrence Pacheco said in a statement.

The state’s police accountability law, passed in June, gave Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office the authority to conduct such an investigation, which is separate from its ongoing investigation into the death of McClain.

Pacheco said the office would have no further comment on the inquiry until it is completed. Wilson said she learned of the investigation Tuesday and that her department would cooperate.

Minutes before the attorney general’s announcement, Wilson and the Aurora city manager announced the department will undergo a cityled review of its policies and practices with a consulting firm that has helped implement federal consent decrees in other troubled agencies.

The review will evaluate “the department’s leadership structure; elevating the role of community policing and engagement; assessing current policies and practices with respect to use of force, discriminatory policing and bias-free policing practices; officer misconduct and accountability; stops, searches and arrests; recruitment, hiring and retention; interaction with vulnerable populations; and crisis intervention and interactions with individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges,” according to a city news release.

The city has contracted with 21CP Solutions, a Chicago-based firm staffed by former police chiefs, the former executive director of President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, police union representatives, youth outreach experts and academics. The contract is not yet finalized but the city expects to pay between $200,000 and $300,000 for the services, spokeswoman Kim Stuart said.

Federal judges have tapped 21CP Solutions to help monitor the implementation of federal consent decrees against the Baltimore and Cleveland police departments — two departments where federal authorities say police have repeatedly violated residents’ constitutional rights.

“A lengthy, tortuous use of force”

Although the Aurora Police Department is not under a consent decree, the parents of McClain alleged in their lawsuit filed Tuesday that the city’s officers and paramedics violated McClain’s constitutional rights.

According to the lawsuit, Aurora police officers never should have stopped 23-year-old McClain, they never should have tackled and choked him, and paramedics never should have injected him with ketamine or used a dosage appropriate for someone much larger than the 143-pound McClain.

“Even though Elijah had committed no crime and the police had absolutely no reason to suspect that he had, APD officers subjected Elijah to a lengthy, torturous use of force for eighteen minutes — fifteen of which Elijah was handcuffed and lying on the ground,” attorney Mari Newman said Tuesday in a statement.

Aurora police officers stopped McClain on Aug. 24 after a report of a suspicious person.

The officers decided to detain McClain and violently forced him to the ground and handcuffed him before a paramedic injected McClain with ketamine. McClain suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, where he was later declared brain-dead. He died Aug. 30.

“Plaintiffs bring this action seeking both accountability for the profound loss of a beautiful soul, and to ensure that Elijah did not die in vain by sending a resounding message that racism and brutality have no place in American law enforcement,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit names as defendants the city of Aurora, the three Aurora officers who stopped him — Nathan Woodyard, Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt — as well as 10 other officers present on scene, a paramedic and the doctor who oversees Aurora Fire Rescue’s ketamine program.

Michael Bryant, a spokesman for Aurora, said Tuesday that the city is reviewing the lawsuit and could not comment.

McClain’s death and the decision by three Aurora police officers to take smiling selfies at McClain’s memorial site are indicative of problems throughout the department, the lawsuit states.

“The actions of Defendants (Kyle) Dittrich and (Erica) Marrero, along with APD Officer Jaron Jones, in creating and distributing smiling photos of themselves re-enacting the chokehold that killed Elijah at the site of his killing by APD officers, demonstrate that rank-and-file APD officers operate under the assumption that racist behavior will be tolerated or approved of by their colleagues,” the lawsuit states.