When MiDian Shofner attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain on Sept. 9 had her sign in hand ready to protest his hiring.

What she didn’t expect was for the newly appointed chief to approach her about a community discussion about police reform.

“I was doing a demonstration, and after that swearing-in ceremony, he actually came up to me and reached out and we shook hands,” Shofner said.

She said the protest helps create a space for discussion. “It should challenge leaders to say, ‘Let me lean in, let me actually ask more questions.’ And that’s what Todd Chamberlain came in and did.”

On Tuesday evening, Chamberlain came and spoke to a small crowd of about 30, organized by Summary of Black Excellence and Partnership at Aurora Fire Station no. 2. And a protester became a moderator in Shofner. She is CEO of the Denver-based advocacy group Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership.

For the second time in two weeks, Chamberlain opened the floor to questions from the crowd.

Aurora’s black community has expressed distrust of APD in recent years due to a pattern of racial profiling tactics by officers. The death of Elijah McClain prompted the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to place APD under a consent decree. It was no surprise, then, that Chamberlain fielded questions about the decree, the department’s use of force, and white privilege.

Before the discussion began, Shofner told the group that its small size was intentionally organized to promote dialogue.

“I just want to make sure that each of us is grounded in the fact that we’re here to support each other intentionally, honestly, boldly,” Shofner said. “And we seek to give and receive insight. So there has to be reciprocity in the room if it’s going to be something that we can all walk away from and say we did collectively.”

Chamberlain answers

As part of the questions prepared before the discussion, Chamberlain responded to the latest progress report on Aurora’s consent decree. A section of it discusses problematic issues with the shooting of Kilyn Lewisan unarmed black man who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer as SWAT teams attempted to arrest him on a warrant for attempted murder.

The report raised questions about Aurora’s SWAT team serving a warrant out of Denver, the lack of less-lethal options, the lack of cover and the retention of the officer who shot Lewis, Michael Dieck. Chamberlain said warrants outside the city’s jurisdiction will come under more scrutiny. He said he is in the process of creating an after-action SWAT report that evaluates the team’s warrant response process.

“It will show who was involved. It will show a timeline specific to intervention techniques, such as crisis negotiation teams, so we can see a timeline that reflects that,” Chamberlain said. “We’ll also talk about the less lethal tools, which is one of the events listed there, different options, what was used, what wasn’t used.”

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Arapahoe County District Attorney John Kellner declined to file criminal charges against Dieck. Despite the recent decision, the accountability and transparency sections of the progress report were not affected. Senior monitor Jeff Schlanger said he is awaiting the completion of the administrative investigation into the incident before making a final decision.

“We have not made any rulings on this shooting or really the investigation or review of the shooting,” Schlanger said. “We await the conclusion of the administrative inquiry and the assessment of the Force Review Board before making any assessment in relation to these two areas and review.”

Another shooting incident

The the shooting of Corey Dillard also came up Tuesday night during a discussion about the use of force. Officers shot the 37-year-old combat veteran after pointing a replica AR-15 at him. APD said Dillard fought while trying to steal a car and threaten members of the community in the area. At the time, his girlfriend kicked him out of their apartment and was living in his car.

Dillard’s girlfriend and others said he was experiencing a mental episode. They questioned why the officers did not use other de-escalation tactics. Chamberlain said it’s easy to see what could have been done differently in both shoots.

“Now it’s easy to sit here and talk about it being a phone, or yeah, now it’s easy to sit here and talk about a mock bug, pistol or air assault rifle or whatever. But at the time that officer had to make that decision, what was their perspective?” said Chamberlain. “The way we try to improve it is through constant training, through review, through analysis. Again, these forces review the things we do, is flag the problems we see.”

Distrust of Aurora’s black community

Last year, three trials resulted in two former Aurora Fire and Rescue paramedics and an APD officer being convicted and two other APD officers acquitted for their involvement in the death of Elijah McClain. Former APD officer Randy Rodema was convicted of negligent homicide and third-degree assaultt for his involvement in the death of massage therapist Black, 23, who was unarmed.

Former Aurora Fire paramedic Peter Cichuniec received the most severe sentence of five years in prison for negligent homicide and second-degree assault, illegal drug administration. But Adams County Judge Mark Warner vacated the sentence and released Cichuniec with four years of probation after serving 10 months. We gnaw and former Aurora Fire paramedic Jeremy Cooper they appeal to their beliefs.

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

The latest progress report says APD is 73 percent compliant when addressing racial bias in policing. The monitor is considered on track in that area.

“I know that might not mean much. But, it means a lot to me and it means a lot to those officers who are having this discussion and hopefully it changes the way they talk to people, how they work with people, what they do,” Chamberlain said.

Last week’s meeting

Last week, state Sen. Rhonda Fields hosted a meeting at the Dayton Opportunity Center. Many of the questions and concerns centered on the presence of APD officers at former President Donald Trump’s rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center and immigration issues. Chamberlain also faced criticism for a photo op with Trump.

Tony Gorman/CPR News

Many expressed displeasure over the recruitment of APD officers at a political event where Trump made remarks about a Venezuelan prison gang taking over apartment complexes in Aurora. The GOP nominee’s comments were seen as xenophobic and gave the city a bad name.

Chamberlain replied on X, formerly known as Twitterand at the meeting that APD has no political affiliation and listed events where APD has recruited officers. He addressed those concerns again at Tuesday’s panel.

“Where does the conversation need to start”

In connection with Trump’s rally and Chamberlain’s photo with the GOP presidential candidate, Nicole Taylor raised a question about who advises him to communicate with cultural communities, which opened a discussion about white privilege. Chamberlain said he knows what the phrase means and doesn’t think he has it. His response drew groans from the room.

“I think it’s imperative for all of us in the cultural communities to understand where our conversation begins,” Taylor, who is the director of community relations for the Office of the Independent Monitor in Denver. “And if people in positions of authority who happen to be of the Caucasian persuasion are not entitled to white privilege just because they are, then that tells you where your conversation needs to start.”

Tony Gorman/CPR News

Taylor believes Chamberlain has good intentions but doesn’t yet have the understanding to make an impactful change.

“I think with conversations going on and the community feeling like they can speak up, that he will listen to be heard and then change can happen. But it won’t be overnight,” Taylor said.

It ends with a handshake

Topazz McBride, an elder at Restoration Christian Fellowship, attended both discussions. She said she still has reservations about Chamberlain. But he feels better about his post after Tuesday night.

“I’ve heard him say that he’s looking at things on a case-by-case basis and what he expects from his officers is more accountability and the training that he says he’s going to put in place in terms of addressing bias, implicit bias. , micro bias, all those things are important,” McBride said. “And then, his willingness to be here in this room was pretty brave of him. He appeared alone. No other officer with him.”

At the end of the discussion, Chamberlain shook Shofner’s hand and committed to more community discussions. He said he would try to get his command staff involved as well.

“It can’t just be me. I could come and keep telling you the same thing month after month or year after year,” Chamberlain said. “You have to talk to the people who have commands who need to hear the same discussions, they need to have the same opportunity to give their perspective and point of view.

Tony Gorman/CPR News

Afterward, Shofner’s conversation was the first of many steps in APD regaining the trust of the community.

“These are spaces that they should actually create in this bold way so that the community can come and learn and understand what level of emotional intelligence, what level of cultural competence, what level, level of cultural humility we have . in the leaders who are supposed to protect us or support us or represent us,” Shofner said. “So with that, I think tonight was certainly a first step in a long journey that Chief Chamberlain will be on as he tries to continue to build confidence in a system that he inherited and which is broken in trust.”

Shofner said her team will plan similar events in the future. She hopes to find collaborative partnerships with other organizations to ensure more community voices are heard.