New Aurora police chief optimistic he can help to improve public safety, build trust in the Colorado city
Aurora's newest police chief is not deterred by the national spotlight on the city's crime and concern about international gangs.
"That wasn't an inhibitor to me coming here. That actually gave me more of an emphasis to get here," Todd Chamberlain said.
He's also not put off by the fact he is the sixth chief of the Aurora Police Department since 2020, but acknowledged how the turnover has impacted the community's trust.
"I think with my ethics and my heart, I will hopefully change their minds," said Chamberlain. "And, if not, I will look for ways to do that."
In a one-on-one interview with CBS Colorado's Kelly Werthmann, Chamberlain discussed everything from misinformation about activity of a gang from Venezuela, growing youth violence, transparency and a lack of trust.
"I want the community to get to know me. They don't know me from Adam, and in large part, I don't know them, so I think that's really a positive thing because it brings an open book," said Chamberlain.
Chamberlain comes to Colorado from California, following a 35-year career with the LAPD as well as the Los Angeles School Police. He said the diversity of Los Angeles is like that of Aurora, so he his quite familiar and experienced with some of the issues impacting such communities and their relationship with law enforcement. The concern of gang violence and the rumors of a gang from Venezuela taking over apartment complexes in Aurora has taken much of his attention in the two weeks Chamberlain has been on the job.
"I walked through the apartments recently, which was incredible for me to see the officers and what they were doing," Chamberlain said. "We have to get a strong understanding of what is involved there, and the reality versus the moral panic."
Last week Chamberlain said identifying members of the gang from Venezuela has been a challenge.
The new chief said he also plans to tackle the growing problem of youth crime and violence in the city, and said he'll take a data-driven approach.
"I don't want to do anecdotal facts, I want to have statistics to evidence-based approaches to where are our crimes, who's committing those crimes, who's being victimized, what are their ages, I want to have that identified," he explained.
"I want to see specifically where we can do intervention and prevention to stop that," he said.
"Whether it's in the school environment -- that's just as complex as the environment on the streets. Everything you see -- mental health, substance abuse, homelessness -- that's also in the school environment. That's what those children are dealing with. That's where I hope to have intervention and prevention in place to start saying, 'Hey, we can give you other alternatives.'"
As for building trust, Chamberlain said it will take time and a lot of communication and transparency. He feels confident he can help make a difference.
"What might have been the past is the past," he said. "This is a new beginning, a new future, and I'm happy to be in this chair doing that."
"Why should the city of Aurora and its residents trust you?" Werthmann asked.
"Well, for one, I hope they trust whoever is in this chair for however long they're in this chair," Chamberlain said of the chief position. "That's what I'm asking for, the trust to give me the time to instill what our role is, what an opportunity we have every day to impact somebody's life, not only from this chair but from the officers that are out there every single day."
"And how long should we anticipate you being in that chair and in this position?" Werthmann replied.
"As long as I can mentally and physically keep going," he said.