By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council listened to two opposing opinions from Aurora residents.
The discussion was for resolution 20-0431 to purchase 150 complete sets of personal protective equipment (riot gear) at $88,583.00 for the Aurora Police Department.
Tonya Makrinsky, a resident of Aurora, expressed support of Resolution 20-0431. She said, “It is our responsibility as a community to ensure the safety of law enforcement officers by providing them with personal protective equipment when we expect them on the front line of violent protests to keep the community safe from harm.
“It is unconscionable to expect our police officers to risk life and limb without protection.
“When our officers are protected, they are able to withstand much more without physical injury as they work to de-escalate the situation. However, the moment one is injured from a brick, or glass, or, whatever else they encounter, they are removed for care and that weakens the police position.
“If an officer is injured, the cost for worker’s compensation, short or long term disability for the taxpayer, far outweighs the cost of $88,000 for protective gear.
“APD will not be able to recruit individuals or will lose existing officers to other communities who protect and value their officers.
“I know there has been much talk about body cams, and I agree, this is also needed, however the safety of our officers should not be held hostage to the longer time it takes to ensure the best body cam equipment and technology is sourced for the department,” she said.
Jesael Gonzalez, a resident of Aurora asked the Council to vote no on Resolution 20-0431. She said, “Our community has to hold the police department accountable in order to make our city safer, not further militarize our police department.
“It’s important to understand that further militarizing the department will create a them versus us problem.
“A study from Arthur Rizer from Oxford University in 2018 shows when police officers are given riot gear, it changes how they do their policing.
“Through surveys given to police officers, 77 percent reported they’re more assertive, more aggressive, and more violent.
“This only goes to further point out that when police officers are given riot gear, they enter a mentality to work against their community rather than to protecting and serving the community they are hired to protect.
“They are supposed to be part of us, but this changes when police are trained to have an implicit bias and when they are equipped as soldiers.
“As some have pointed out the department wants to protect itself from riots, but failed to mention the heavy militarization presence has only escalated situations rather than de-escalating them.
“Our community needs youth programs, social workers, and needs to address systematic structures against people of color and most definitely needs the politicians to work for the people and not the police,” she said.
Another discussion at length was about a resolution regarding the implementation of officer-worn body cameras, supporting system, and integration to existing systems for the Aurora Police Department.
Resolution 20-0528 is to establish the intent of the city of Aurora to move forward with the purchase/lease of a body camera system in an expeditious, yet prudent fashion.
City of Aurora government documents state that one of the major considerations/factors that delayed the implementation of the purchase of body cameras was the status and completion of the Hexagon/E911 and accompanying records system at the Aurora Police Department. This system is scheduled for final completion at the end of 2020.
A body camera system will need to integrate with this system and purchasing a system prior to the completion of the Hexagon project could have resulted in major integration problems that in turn could result in decreased functionality, or increased costs, or both.
More discussion is expected and final approval could be made at the September 8 Aurora City Council meeting.