Report: Aurora police cooperating with independent monitor in excessive force review

The Aurora Police Department is under review for its use of force. The review is from the Independent Consent Decree Monitor, which is part of a process that mandates reforms in the department. 

In 2020, the Colorado State Attorney General's office ordered an investigation into what it called a pattern of racially biased policing and use of excessive force in Aurora. The investigative team found "Aurora Police has a pattern and practice of racially biased policing, using excessive force, and gaining to record required information when it interacts with the community."

That report went on to read, "Aurora Fire has engaged in a pattern and practice of administering ketamine in violation of the law."

The investigation, which lasted 14 months, stemmed from the controversial arrest of Elijah McClain. McClain died in 2019 after an altercation with Aurora police and medics with Aurora Fire Rescue. He had not committed a crime, yet was taken to the ground and injected with a potentially lethal dose of Ketamine.

This latest report comes from the first report of the monitor, covering the first reporting period from Feb. 15 to May 15. The summary states that "during this initial period, the City of Aurora and its constituent agencies have cooperated fully with the Monitor and have begun working on, and in some cases have made great strides toward, the implementation of the mandated reforms."