Aurora mayor Richard C. Irvin announced a new reform initiative that focuses on strengthening police and community relations and accountability through a multi-phased approach of reviewing law enforcement policies and exploring new implementations, such as body cameras and a civilian review board.
The Community Helping Aurora’s Necessary Growth and Empowerment (CHANGE) Reform Initiative was presented last week to the Aurora City Council after the mayor recently reviewed activities of the past week in Aurora, which included multiple protests with calls for racial justice, police accountability, and substantive change in the community.
“We can’t say ‘one Aurora’ if segments of our community feel unheard, unassured and unattached,” Irvin said to members of the Aurora City Council and public viewers of the meeting. “I apologize to any person who has experienced unjust, unfair, undeserved, treatment at any time in Aurora by police officers, public policy, or any parts of the administration. However, these are just words. The best apology is changed behavior.”
During the first phase of the CHANGE Reform Initiative, the emphasis is on four key areas of policing in Aurora, including a review of police use-of-force policies and police training policies.
Joining other mayors across the country, mayor Irvin accepted the national challenge from the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance to take the pledge to review local use of force policies and to include community members in the process to gather feedback and to make recommendations for change.
“Aurora is taking it a step beyond the national call to review use-of-force policies,” Irvin said.
Community members will join City and police officials to review of the training policies, learn about the current training process and give recommendations for improvements.
A series of review and recommendation sessions for each of the first two key areas will be planned through June and July. Community members can register online at www.aurora-il.org/CHANGE when the dates are announced next week.
Although the first two areas are a review of what is currently in place, the next two areas are a preview of possible implementations.
The mayor announced the City has been reviewing the use of body cameras for officers since last year and the CHANGE Reform Initiative will help to expedite the process through the release of a Request for Information (RFI) for body cameras. The RFI, which will be released by the end of June, will give companies 30 days to respond with information regarding the successful deployment and operation of body cameras. The City will use the information to discuss local budgetary impact and implementation.
The final part of the plan will explore the implementation of a new independent civilian review board to address misconduct complaints. The City will research best practices through interviews with municipalities where such boards are active and productive.
Learn more about the CHANGE Reform Initiative at www.aurora-il.org/CHANGE.
—City government of Aurora