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Our Commitment to Progress


Image of a group of hands in a circle with the words Commitment to Progress and the logos of the city of Aurora, Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Rescue

Aurora Consent Decree

On Nov. 22, 2021, the city of Aurora and the Colorado Attorney General jointly and voluntarily entered into a mutually beneficial legal agreement known as a consent decree, which the city considers its commitment to progress. The consent decree provides the Aurora Police Department (APD), Aurora Fire Rescue (AFR) and Aurora Civil Service Commission (CSC) with the opportunity to allocate resources, review current policies and adopt new ones, and focus training efforts in five key areas.

Also referred to as pillars, the five key areas include: 
Addressing Racial Bias in Policing
Constitutional Policing
Chemical Restraints
Recruitment, Hiring and Promotion
Accountability and Transparency   

The pillars include 77 individual agency mandates, which upon completion will fulfill Aurora's consent decree. The consent decree is scheduled to sunset after five years, or when all mandates have been accomplished. The consent decree encompasses two years of operational changes followed by three years of monitoring:

Graphic of the Consent Decree Timeline that shows the five-year progress as a marathon, with years 1 and 2 focused on new policy and training, and years 3 through 5 focusing on operational integrity

IntegrAssure was named the Aurora consent decree monitor on February 15, 2022. IntegrAssure’s role is to provide technical assistance on new policies and training to ensure mandates are met on schedule. Progress is communicated to the community through regularly published reports, including four quarterly reports in year one and two semi-annual reports in year two.

Reports of the Independent Consent Decree Monitor:
Period 6 (will be issued in April 2024)
Period 5 (Issued: October 15, 2023) 
Period 4 (Issued: April 15, 2023)
Period 3 (Issued: Jan. 13, 2023)
Period 2 (Issued: Oct. 15, 2022)
Period 1 (Issued: July 15, 2022)

The city is in substantial compliance with 31 of 68 mandates that have been reviewed to date. This includes 15 related to AFR’s training, Use of Chemical Sedatives and recruitment plan. Six of the mandates found to be in substantial compliance involved the CSC’s submission of new policies for the Monitor’s review and rule changes involving the hiring and disciplinary process. The remaining 10 mandates found to be in substantial compliance involve APD’s publication of the Use of Force policy and the delivery of its training as well as the completion of its recruitment plan. APD has greatly improved its policy development and governance, which is covered in more detail below.

Police Progress

APD is committed to meeting the expectations of each of the pillars:

Addressing Racial Bias

APD is committed to addressing racial bias through the creation of training and best practices related to officer stops, arrests and uses of force, and to engage in critical decision-making by acknowledging the role that bias can play in enforcement decisions and developing strategies to combat bias.

Constitutional Policing

APD is committed to developing a documentation system that complies with state law and allows for a prompt and transparent review of how officers interact with the community.

Chemical Restraints

APD is committed to its partnership with AFR and yields to the expertise of medical professionals to determine when the use of chemical restraints is appropriate and lawful.

Recruitment, Hiring and Promotion

APD is committed to recruiting, hiring and promotion processes that are fair and equitable to all prospective candidates and existing employees. The department is committed to drawing candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds to ensure the department is reflective of the city of Aurora, the most diverse city in Colorado.

Accountability and Transparency

APD is committed to holding its personnel accountable and to the open and transparent sharing of information with the community.

In February 2024, APD launched its Online Transparency & Accountability Portal, available at AuroraGov.org/APDPortal. The transparency portal provides the public access to regularly updated data and information about agency demographics, crime statistics and uses of force.

More Resources

Below are more Consent Decree Monitor resources and FAQs:
AuroraMonitor.org - Office of the Independent Consent Decree Monitor for the City of Aurora
Connect with the Monitor (provide your comments)

Public Meetings and Informational Sessions:

FAQs

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