Aurora City Council approved the hiring of a new police chief Monday in an 8-2 vote. The decision was immediately followed by chants of “shame on you” and a five minute recess. Council then resumed virtually away from the public.
The selection of Todd Chamberlain, a former commander in the Los Angeles Police Department, drew backlash from some residents due to the limited community involvement in the selection process.
"How the hell are you going to get a new police chief without input from the Black community?" Alvertis Simmons said to Council after his mic had been turned off due to time limits.
Simmons says he has been at every Council meeting in the last three months to speak about his godson, Preston Nunn III, who he says was beaten by APD three years ago. He believes the relationship between APD and the community has gotten worse.
“After all that Aurora has been through … whether you agree with us or not, at least get our input,” Simmons told CPR News. “Aurora police, you shoot us and kill us as Black men. You beat us down as Black men, but you don't want to hear from us when it comes to the input of our new police chief in town. That's not right. No way, shape, form, how you look at that. It's not right.”
Chamberlain was selected by Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor last week. His appointment comes after years of turnover. The city has seen six different people lead APD in the last nine years.
“Today you'll hear again from folks that are just tired,” Auon'tai Anderson, who organized Monday’s opposition to APD, said. “Trust me, there's any place else that I'd rather be right now than at the Aurora City Council meeting… Not no, but ‘hell no’ is how I need you to vote tonight.”
The group of about 30 protestors were in attendance were led by family members of Kilyn Lewis, who was shot and killed by police in May. During public comment, many focused on “95,” the number of days since the shooting, demanding action from council members about Lewis’s death and demanding council deny Chamberlain's confirmation.
“You guys are supposed to be about the community. This is not a community. It's like we're targets in a freaking video game or something,” Anndrec Lewis, Kilyn Lewis’ wife, said. “But you guys are safe though and my baby's not. And it's not fair.”
The Aurora Police Department has been under scrutiny due to a number of police shootings and deaths, including Lewis, Elijah McClain and Jor’Dell Richardson. APD entered into a consent decree with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office in 2021 after Weiser’s office announced that they found “a pattern and practice of racially biased policing.”
During public comments, MiDian Holmes read an excerpt of a letter addressed to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I write to you today with a heavy heart,” Holmes said. “Sis, this letter serves as a warning that your nephews and nieces are not safe in Aurora, Colorado. Black bodies are systemically targeted and lynched in the streets by those sworn to protect us. The police in Aurora have made it clear that our lives are not valued, that our children are not safe, and that our futures can be taken from us without consequence.”
Holmes said 100 copies of a long-form copy of that letter will be mailed to Harris.
“I agree we did not have a community process,” Councilwoman Crystal Murillo, who did not support Chamberlain’s appointment, said. “I hear your concerns and see what we can do to hold accountability in Aurora."
“You guys want accountability, you want us to have better training, this is what he is about,” Councilwoman Francis Bergan said. “Give him a chance.”
Protests erupted throughout the chamber after Bergan's comments.
Chamberlain began his law enforcement career with the LAPD in 1984 and retired as a commander in 2018. Residents referenced the Rodney King beating by police in 1992 along with numerous other alleged incidents that occurred during Chamberlain’s time at LAPD as reasons not to hire him.
In 2019, he became police chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District. According to ABC’s Channel 7 in Los Angeles, he resigned seven months after the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to slash the department’s budget by $25 million.
“Nobody wants this job, so you said, ‘Ok who does nobody want,’” Holmes said about Chamberlain’s selection.
The Aurora Police Department declined comment.
