New Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain met with the community for the first time since taking over the job last month.
Chamberlain spent the first ten minutes introducing himself to those who attended. In the event hosted by Colorado Sen. Rhonda Fields, Chamberlain — the fifth person to lead the embattled department since April 2022 — faced a tough crowd of about 60 people who wanted answers on the department’s recruitment tactics for East Colfax crime.
“They appointed him and the community had very little, maybe I should say, no input into the selection,” Fields said at the beginning of the event. “So this is our opportunity to get to know him a little better.”
Many raised questions over the APD’s presence at a recent rally for former President Donald Trump at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center. Before the event, the Republican presidential nominee made remarks about the Venezuelan community and the presence of the prison gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora apartment complexes.
The APD recruitment team’s presence drew criticism from City Council members, activists and the community. Former Aurora State Sen. Nancy Todd thought the decision to recruit people at the event was extremely disturbing.
“Our city has been defamed, and it has been run through the muck. And I think most of us were deeply offended by the lies that we're told at a national level,” Todd said. “When a candidate comes into our city and continues to propel that lie and continues to run our city down without having an opportunity to defend it and to be welcomed and to be using that as a venue, to be recruiting people who are supporting that lie, that is very disturbing.”
Chamberlain first responded through APD’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the police have no political affiliation. He stood by those comments Thursday night.
“They had the opportunity to make an impact and contact people that might be good candidates. And, I will never ever inhibit that process,” Chamberlain said. “We are in a staffing crisis right now in law enforcement. This department is in a staffing crisis. We cannot isolate groups or individuals and say, 'You cannot be in this based upon political affiliation.' That would be wrong.”
In discussing Aurora’s immigration issues, Chamberlain noted that many of the false narratives originated from the city because of a video from one of the apartment complexes that was released. He said many of the new immigrants who arrived in the city lacked the infrastructure to support them.
“Not all these individuals are gang members. These are immigrants like any other immigrant that come to this country, and this is probably one of the most diverse communities I have ever seen,” Chamberlain said. “How you assimilate, how they do, how they perform is the responsibility of everybody in this room, the responsibility of the state, the responsibility of the federal government and the responsibility of the city. And to be honest with you, a lot of that is right now lacking.”
Yoal Ghebremeskel, who emigrated from Eritrea 26 years ago, asked about crime along the East Colfax Corridor and its connection to the immigration community.
Chamberlain responded by talking about intervention and prevention to address the crime.
“I think it really does bring it back to what is important, and that's people being victimized, people being mistreated, and people being hurt,” Chamberlain said. “And that is the primary goal of what law enforcement is, is to make sure that there are people to actually perform the task of stopping that.”
Ghebremeskel said the chief's answer didn’t go far enough for him.
“I need accurate data that states and says these violent acts occurred due to the recent migrants to Aurora,” said Ghebremeskel, who is the executive director of Street Fraternity. Despite issues with crime in Aurora, he had hoped Chamberlain would help dispel false narratives about the community.
“So, regardless of a migrant problem to violence, regardless of massacres, regardless of gangs, regardless of any form of violence, whether that's even domestic, for the most part targeted violence or community violence. For me, what I perceive and see is who are the perpetrators and why?”
In August, Chamberlain was selected as the city’s next police chief. Various community members and organizations voice displeasure over the city’s decision to eliminate public input from the hiring process. Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor said including public input was unsuccessful in previous rounds of hiring and reaffirmed his commitment to filling the role permanently.
Chamberlain has faced criticism and tall tasks almost immediately after he was sworn in last month. APD is currently under a consent decree from the state Attorney General’s Office for following a pattern of racially biased tactics from officers.
After the event, Chamberlain said he enjoyed the connection with the community despite answering some difficult questions. He thinks that connection needs to be stronger.
“I hope what comes across is that myself and the Aurora Police Department is going to do everything we can possibly do to make this a safe community for everybody,” Chamberlain said.
“I'm a realist, I know that a lot of people don't like the police. I know that they don't, when they see me, they don't see me, they see my uniform and I understand that. But that's what I get the opportunity to do here, is to introduce them to me, introduce them to Todd Chamberlain and say what my goals are for this agency, for this organization, what my hopes are to impact this community.”
Fields said there was a great need for community engagement with the police department. She hopes there will be more opportunities to discuss issues with Chamberlain.
“I felt like the conversation was very rich, it was very bold, it was very courageous. In reference to some of the questions that were posed to the chief and how he handled them,” said Fields, who is running for Arapahoe County Commissioner in November. “I'm not quite sure how receptive or responsive the community was with his response. So there was pushback, but it just shows that he needs to get out more.”
Chamberlain will participate in another community forum next week hosted by the Epitome of Black Excellence on Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in Aurora.
