The number of police killings in Aurora in 2024 is higher than in 2023

The number of fatal police shootings in Aurora fell in 2023 compared to 2022, but that number has increased again this year, according to the department. The department also saw more use-of-force incidents overall in 2023, despite responding to fewer calls, than in 2022, the data shows.

Use of force generally refers to the level of physical force used by a police officer against a person. Aurora police divide their use-of-force examples into three levels based on what action an officer takes:

• Low-Level: “Practical control techniques such as twist locks or the use of a take-down”
• Moderate: Actions “likely to cause pain or injury,” such as a TASER, baton strike, or dog bite
• Deadly: Fire a weapon regardless of the result

In its report released Monday, APD shows the total number of use-of-force incidents from 2021 to 2023:

According to APD data, there were eight “fatal” use-of-force incidents involving officers in 2021, 13 in 2022 and four in 2023.

However, the report says that “fatal” cases of use of force do not necessarily mean that someone has died. It defines deadly force as “actions by an officer that could result in serious bodily harm or death.” An example is firing a firearm regardless of whether the person is hit.”

The actual number of people killed by Aurora officers in “use of force” incidents during those years was lower. As of Tuesday, officers shot zero people in 2021, seven people in 2022, two people in 2023 and four people in 2024, according to department spokesman Joe Moylan.

This figure for 2023 does not include the crash on March 4th The now former officer Eduardo Landeros killed Elias Hans Anderson Because a vehicle accident does not constitute a use of force, an APD spokesperson told CBS News Colorado. Accident investigators determined that Landeros was responding to a call but did not have his lights or sirens on when he struck Anderson’s vehicle. Landeros resigned a day before a scheduled internal review, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years probation.

The Aurora Police Department is under one Consent Decree from the state – part of one Declaration of consent from the city reached in 2021 with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office – which established an independent monitor to improve the department’s policies and practices.

The consent decree required the department to address “perceived or actual bias in policing,” improve use-of-force policies to avoid “unnecessarily escalating encounters with community members,” improve hiring practices, develop a new system , to track data on police interactions and ensure “the lawful administration of chemical sedatives and the need for a review of policies and procedures by the independent monitoring agency before ketamine is allowed to be used again.”

Moylan said APD’s report released Monday is not required under the consent decree.

“There are some mandates in the Consent Decree that relate to transparency, but nothing that specifically requires the publication of an annual use of force report or the launch of an online transparency portal. These are projects that we have identified,” he said.

Aurora is the only city in Colorado subject to a consent decree, and last year announced it was doing so on track for compliance within five years. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the city’s compliance with the decree.

The consent decree came afterward the murder of Elijah McClain by Aurora police officers and paramedics in 2019. His killing sparked outrage, protests and memorials in Aurora and several other cities across the United States

McClain’s killing gained renewed attention following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

In each case, the jury reached different verdicts regarding the officers and paramedics who were criminally charged The department settled with McClain’s family for $15 million.

The department has been involved in other high-profile murders in recent years, particularly of black men and boys; Earlier this year, an Aurora SWAT officer shot and killed 37-year-old Kilyn Lewis, who was wanted on a warrant for attempted first-degree murder but was unarmed at the time of his killing.

And last year, an officer shot and killed a 14-year-old Jor’dell Richardson after the teenager was allegedly involved in a robbery. When officers arrested him in an alley, An officer shot him. He later died from his injuries. Investigators believe Jor’dell had an air pistol with him.

The officers in both cases were cleared by the district attorney’s office and APD internal affairs investigators.

Also last year an Aurora officer shot a man who pointed his own gun at a suspected thief.

This year, The department settled with one woman for $1.9 million according to officers pointed guns at her and her children and forced her onto the hot pavement in 2020 after mistaking the woman’s car for a stolen one.

Black people were disproportionately exposed to Aurora officers’ use of force, according to the department’s 2023 use of force report. Black and African American people make up 16.6% of the city’s population, but about 39% of the people against whom Aurora officers have used force, according to census data.

Siddartha Rathod, a civil rights attorney who has been involved in several high-profile cases of police brutality in Colorado, said the core of the problem is not only the data but also the people and communities affected by police violence.

“It is important to remember that these are just statistics. On the other side of these numbers are real people,” he told CBS News Colorado. “Any act of excessive force by law enforcement undermines the public’s trust in the Aurora Police Department. Victims of crime, particularly from communities of color, will continue to be hesitant to contact APD because they are disproportionately the victims of police violence.”

APD now has a crime and use of force dashboard on its website. You can read APD’s full 2023 Use of Force Report here: