The 112-page report found that the police department has a racially biased, overly excessive police practice pattern and has been unable to record the legally required information when interacting with the community, according to a statement from Attorney General Phil Weiser. The report also found that APD used force against people of color nearly 2.5 times more than against white people.
“Our team conducted a thorough review (with the help of the full cooperation of the city of Aurora) and developed important conclusions about how Aurora can comply with the law and raise the effectiveness and reliability of the forces of the ‘order,’ Weiser said. .
In early September, a Colorado grand jury charged three police officers and two paramedics with firefighters involved in McClain’s death. All were charged with murder and manslaughter for criminal negligence among other crimes as part of a 32-count indictment.
CNN contacted APD and AFD for a statement, but received no response immediately.
“We will not give up our deep commitment to a‘ new way ’of policing, ensuring public safety and serving our diverse and culturally rich community in Aurora,” city manager Jim Twombly said in a statement. “I’m still digesting the details of the attorney general’s report, and it’s painful to hear it.”
The data show race-based police patterns, according to AG
Investigators examined more than 3 million internal police records and conducted 220 hours of in-person trips with guards and firefighters during the course of the investigation, according to the report.
Investigators attended nine months of weekly meetings of the Force Review Board, where they reviewed the bodycam footage of officers using the force and reviewed how the department evaluates this type of behavior, according to the report.
Dozens of interviews were conducted with police and firefighters and the team heard comments from the community about the problems, according to the report.
Investigators also read 2,800 reports from the past five years about the use of force by Aurora police.
It was found that there was “a constant pattern of illegal behavior” by the police, according to Weiser’s press release.
“Nearly half of the people against whom Aurora police used force were black, even though black residents make up about 15% of Aurora’s population,” Weiser said in a statement. cites the annual reports on the use of force by the ODA Force Review Board.
Blacks were also more than twice as likely to be arrested as whites, Weiser’s release was reported.
“In short, Aurora police have been unable to create and monitor the proper expectations for responsible behavior,” the report said.
The investigation found agents who “generically recited“ stop resisting ”when they tried to control issues that seemed not to resist, according to the GA report. The investigation team observed that officers were carrying people to the ground by force without giving them adequate time to respond to an officer’s order.
Even in circumstances where someone would be in a situation of obvious mental health suffering but would not be a threat to himself, the investigation found agents who immediately escalated the situation, according to the report.
Officers used force against people who posed no danger and had not committed any crime, but simply refused to comply, the report said.
Aurora police chief Vanessa Wilson issued a statement saying the department would work with Weiser’s office to determine how to implement the changes.
“We recognize that there are changes to be made. We will not analyze this agency or rule out the professionalism and integrity that individual agents bring to our community every day,” Wilson said. “I have and continue to hold officers accountable, as evidenced by my recent disciplinary actions, which are supported by many department agents proud to carry our badge.”
Aurora FD used ketamine illegally, according to AG
The Aurora Fire Department suspended the use of ketamine on September 14, 2020, but records of ketamine administration from January 2019 to June 2020 show that during this period, the department reported d ‘administer ketamine 22 times for excited delirium, a life-threatening medical emergency. at the launch of Weiser.
“These records show that in more than half of the incidents, paramedics did not follow ketamine control protocols and administered ketamine at doses higher than the maximum allowable dose for the subject’s reported weight,” the statement said.
AFD paramedics diagnosed McClain, the 23-year-old black man who died during a police stop in 2019, with an “excited delirium.” None of the paramedics checked his vital signs, neither spoke to McClain nor touched him before making the diagnosis, according to an indictment earlier this month.
They then injected McClain with a dose of ketamine according to an estimate he had 200 pounds, when he actually weighed 143 pounds, according to the indictment. Three days later he was declared brain dead.
AFD indicated that it has no plans to restore the use of ketamine, but the report set out the requirements in case it decides to do so. Requirements include reviewing dose recommendations, developing a “uniform method” for assessing an individual’s agitation in order to reduce unnecessary drug use, providing clear policy information, and training for agents to give paramedics. and create a tougher review process to ensure compliance with the policy, Weiser said.
Fire chief Fernando Gray said in a statement that “we find value in the report.”
“Prior to completing the research, our department had already taken countless steps to improve our service, such as expanding the quality improvement / review process, improving our patient care documentation capabilities, and modifying medical protocols. to provide additional clarity between police and firefighters medical interventions, which ultimately addressed many of the concerns raised in the report, ”he said.
The investigation team demands “that Aurora pay for an independent monitor, chosen with input from police, firefighters and Aurora City Council, who will report to a court and provide periodic public updates on the progress of Aurora. ‘Aurora in the implementation of these changes’.
“In addition, to ensure that these changes can be implemented to the greatest extent possible, we will require the Aurora Civil Service Commission to make its work publicly transparent and available for review, to the extent that legislation allow all work aimed at Aurora Fire and the police, ”the report said.
The report indicated that the city and the attorney general must enter a negotiation period to “make these changes part of a voluntary consent decree.” There will be 60 days for the city and the attorney general to reach an agreement and implement the changes.
Eric Levenson and CNN’s Stella Chan contributed to this report.