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Aurora’s new police chief talks Trump rally recruiting, immigration during public event

Aurora’s new police chief talks Trump rally recruiting, immigration during public event

Aurora’s new police chief, Todd Chamberlain, met with the community for the first time since taking office last month.

Chamberlain spent the first ten minutes introducing himself to those in attendance. At 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 about the department’s recruiting tactics for the East Coast crime scene. Colfax.

“They named it and the community had very little, maybe I should say, no input into the selection,” Fields said at the start of the event. “So this is our opportunity to get to know him a little better.”

Many have raised questions about APD presence at a recent rally for former President Donald Trump at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center. Before the event, the Republican presidential candidate made remarks about the Venezuelan community and the presence of the Tren de Aragua prison gang in Aurora apartment complexes.

The presence of the APD recruitment team drew criticism from City Council members, activists and the community. Former Aurora state Sen. Nancy Todd found the decision to recruit people to the event extremely troubling.

“Our city has been defamed and dragged through the mud. And I think most of us have been deeply offended by the lies that are being told to us nationally,” Todd said. “When a candidate comes to our city and continues to propel that lie and continues to destroy our city without having an opportunity to defend it and be welcomed and use that as a venue, to recruit people who support that lie. , it’s very disturbing.”

Chamberlain first responded via the APD account on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the police have no political affiliation. He backed up those comments on Thursday night.

“They had an opportunity to make an impact and contact people who might be good candidates. And, I will never inhibit that process,” Chamberlain said. “We are in a staffing crisis right now in law enforcement. This department is in a staffing crisis. We can’t isolate groups or individuals and say, “You can’t be in this based on political affiliation.” That would be wrong.”

Tony Gorman/CPR News

APD Chief Todd Chamberlain State Sen. Rhonda Fields introduced Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain at a community meeting Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at the Dayton Street Opportunity Center.

In discussing Aurora’s immigration issues, Chamberlain noted that many of the false narratives have come from the city because of a video from one of the apartment complexes that was released. He said many of the new immigrants who have arrived in the city do not have the infrastructure to support them.

“Not all of these individuals are gang members. They are immigrants like any other immigrant that comes to this country and this is probably one of the most diverse communities that I have ever seen,” Chamberlain said. “How you assimilate, how they do, how it works is the responsibility of everyone 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 missing right now.”

Yoal Ghebremeskel, who immigrated from Eritrea 26 years ago, asked about crime along the East Colfax Corridor and its connection to the immigrant community.

Chamberlain responded by talking about intervention and prevention to tackle crime.

“I think it really brings it back to what’s important, which is people being victimized, people being mistreated and people being hurt,” Chamberlain said. “And that’s the main purpose of law enforcement, is to make sure there are people who are actually up to the task of stopping this.”

Ghebremeskel said the chief’s response didn’t go far enough for him.

“I need accurate data to state and say that these violent acts happened because of recent migrants to Aurora,” said Ghebremeskel, who is the executive director of Street Fraternity. Despite Aurora’s crime problems, he had hoped Chamberlain would help dispel false narratives about the community.

Tony Gorman/CPR News

Yoal Ghebremeskel, an immigrant from Eritrea, asks a question at Todd Chamberlain’s first public appearance as Aurora’s police chief. The event was held at the Dayton Street Opportunity Center on Thursday, October 24, 2024.

“So regardless of the issue of migrants to violence, regardless of massacres, regardless of gangs, regardless of any form of violence, whether it’s even domestic, mostly targeted violence or community violence. For me, what I perceive and see is who are the perpetrators and why?”

In August, Chamberlain was chosen as the city’s next police chief. Various community members and organizations are expressing displeasure with the city’s decision to remove public input from the hiring process. Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor said including public input has not been successful in previous rounds of hiring and reaffirmed his commitment to fill the role permanently.

Chamberlain faced criticism and high stakes almost immediately after being 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 by officers.

After the event, Chamberlain said he enjoyed connecting with the community, even though he answered some tough questions. He believes the connection needs to be stronger.

“I hope what comes across is that myself and the Aurora Police Department are going to do everything we can to make this a safe community for everybody,” Chamberlain said.

“I’m realistic, I know a lot of people don’t like the police. I know they don’t, when they see me, they don’t see me, they see my uniform and they understand that. But that’s what I have the opportunity to do here, is to present them to myself, to present them to Todd Chamberlain and say what my goals are for this agency, for this organization, what my hopes are to have an impact on the community.”

Fields said there is a great need for community involvement with the police department. She hopes there will be more opportunities to discuss issues with Chamberlain.

“I felt the conversation was very rich, it was very bold, it was very brave. Regarding some of the questions that were put to the chief and how he handled them,” said Fields, who is running for Arapahoe County commissioner in November. “I’m not sure how receptive or receptive the community was to his response. So there was pushback, but it just shows that it needs to come out more.”

Chamberlain will participate in another community forum next week hosted by Epitome of Black Excellence on Oct. 29 at 6:30 pm in Aurora.