Aurora police killings in 2024 have outpaced 2023

The number of deadly Aurora police shootings was down in 2023 compared to 2022, but that number is back up again this year, according to data from the department. In 2023, the department also had more total use of force incidents despite responding to fewer calls than in 2022, the data shows.

Use of force generally refers to the amount of physical force a police officer uses against a person. Aurora police breaks down its use of force examples into three levels, depending on what actions an officer takes:

• Low-Level: "Hands-on control techniques, such as twist-locks or the use of a take-down"
• Intermediate: Actions "likely to cause pain or injury," such as a TASER, baton strike or dog bite
• Lethal: Firing a gun, regardless of outcome

In its report, published on Monday, APD shows the total number of use of force incidents from 2021 through 2023:

According to the data from APD, officers had eight "lethal" use of force incidents in 2021, 13 in 2022 and four in 2023.

But in the report, the department says "lethal" instances of use of force don't necessarily mean someone died. It defines lethal use of force as "actions taken by an officer in which the outcome could be serious bodily injury or death. An example is the firing of firearm regardless of whether the subject is struck."

The actual number of people killed by Aurora officers in "use of force" incidents in those years was lower. According to department spokesman Joe Moylan, officers shot and killed zero people in 2021, seven people in 2022, two people in 2023 and four people in 2024 through Tuesday.

That 2023 number also doesn't include the March 4 crash where now-former officer Eduardo Landeros killed Elias Hans Anderson since a vehicle crash doesn't constitute a use of force, an APD spokesman told CBS News Colorado. Landeros was responding to a call but did not have his lights or sirens on when he struck Anderson's vehicle, crash investigators found. Landeros resigned a day before a scheduled internal affairs review, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years of parole.

The Aurora Police Department is under a consent decree from the state -- part of a plea agreement the city reached in 2021 with the Colorado Attorney General's Office -- which created an independent monitor to improve the department's policies and practices.

The consent decree required the department to address "perceived or actual bias in policing," improve use of force policies to avoid "unnecessarily escalating encounters with community members," improve hiring practices, develop a new system to track data on police interactions and ensure "the lawful administration of chemical sedatives and requiring review of policies and procedures by the independent consent decree monitor before ketamine may be used again."

The report APD released Monday isn't required under the consent decree, according to Moylan.

"There are a few mandates under the consent decree that speak to transparency, but nothing that specifically requires the release of an annual use of force report or the launch of an online transparency portal. Those are projects we identified," he said.

Aurora is the only city in Colorado under a consent decree and said last year that it was on track to be in compliance within five years. The Colorado Attorney General's Office did not respond to a request for comment on the city's compliance with the decree.

The consent decree came after the killing of Elijah McClain at the hands of Aurora police officers and paramedics in 2019. His killing sparked outrage, protests and memorials in Aurora and several other cities around the U.S. 

McClain's killing gained renewed attention after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Jurors in each case reached split verdicts in the officers and paramedics who were criminally charged and the department settled with McClain's family for $15 million.

The department has been involved in other high-profile killings, particularly of Black men and boys, in recent years; earlier this year, an Aurora SWAT officer shot and killed 37-year-old Kilyn Lewis, who was wanted on a warrant for attempted first-degree murder, but unarmed at the time of his killing.

And last year, an officer shot 14-year-old Jor'dell Richardson after the teen was allegedly involved in a robbery. When officers apprehended him in an alley, one officer shot him. He later died of his injuries. Investigators say Jor'dell had a BB gun on him.

Officers in both of those cases were cleared by the District Attorney's Office, as well as by APD's internal affairs investigators.

Also last year, an Aurora officer shot and killed a man who drew his own gun on an alleged thief.

This year, the department settled with a woman for $1.9 million after officers drew guns on her and her kids and forced them onto the hot pavement in 2020 after mistaking the woman's car for a stolen one.

According to the department's 2023 use of force report, Black people have disproportionately been subject to Aurora officers' use of force. Black and African American people make up 16.6% of the city's population, according to census data, but about 39% of the people Aurora officers used force against.

Siddartha Rathod, a civil rights attorney involved in several high-profile police brutality cases in Colorado, said the heart of the issue, in addition to the data, is the people and communities impacted by police violence.

"It is important to remember that these are mere statistics. There are real people on the other side of these numbers," he told CBS News Colorado. "Each act of law enforcement excessive force erodes the community's trust in the Aurora Police Department. Victims of crimes, particularly from communities of color, will continue to hesitate to contact APD as they are disproportionately victims of police violence."

APD now has a crime and use of force dashboard on its website. You can read APD's full 2023 use of force report here: