AURORA, Colo. — Aurora City Council passed an emergency resolution Monday night paving the way for a new policy requiring the Aurora Police Department to get city approval before posting on social media, sending news releases, or commenting on legislation.
Watch Maggie Bryan's story about this resolution, and what it means for police and the community, in the video below.
The future policy approved in a 6-4 vote also bans the police department from posting mugshots and suspect names on social media unless a person has been convicted of a crime, pleads guilty, or poses an immediate threat to the public.
Aurora Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs brought the emergency resolution forward. Coombs said the police department has been using its official social media pages to amplify messages that are inconsistent with the city's messaging. Coombs pointed to a May 13 post on the police department's X account that condemned recent use-of-force legislation.
"The chief is free as an individual to say whatever he would like. What's not appropriate is utilizing the official city channels to amplify that message," Coombs said.
During Monday night's council meeting, council members amended the resolution to allow the police department to post emergency information without prior city approval, like posts about a person actively committing crimes or a shelter-in-place order for residents.
Aurora City Attorney Peter Schulte said the policy limits Aurora police from posting details of an arrest or ongoing case before a conviction. He pointed to a May 5 post on the department's X account as an example, saying it included "added editorializing" about the arrest of a suspect in a stolen vehicle. The post quoted an APD sergeant who said the suspect's criminal history "may be the largest I've ever seen."
"None of the conversations that I've had with the city manager, that I've had with the other city council members about this, is trying to get APD to stop doing their good work and putting out factual information. We just don't need the added editorializing," Schulte said.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain responded to the emergency resolution in a statement to Denver7, saying the new policy would limit transparency.
The Aurora Police Department remains committed to transparency, factual communication, and direct engagement with the community we serve. We strive to achieve this both within the department and in the community.
Over my tenure, Aurora has seen a historic drop in crime, our lowest homicide and shooting victim numbers in five years, significant progress under the consent decree, and measurable improvement in community trust reflected in recent surveys. This was achieved with many aspects of modern policing, including transparency and direct communication with those we serve.
Transparency and the safety of the public is not strengthened when information is filtered or delayed. We should be able to agree to disagree, but it increasingly appears that when information, perspectives, or facts do not align with the views of certain groups, the answer is to silence those voices rather than allow open and honest public discussion. And if I as a public safety leader cannot discuss or share concerns without reprisal from the local level, my department and I are unable to effectively be what Aurora needs -- candid, forthright, and open about how our work impacts the daily lives of those we serve.
The pillars of Procedural Justice include fairness, voice, and transparency. My department has been nothing but professional and to suggest otherwise by silencing us all should gravely concern Aurora residents. The community deserves timely facts and direct communication from the professionals closest to these incidents and operational realities. Restricting that communication risks creating confusion, speculation, and managed narratives rather than greater public understanding.
I will comply with lawful orders, but I also believe it is important to voice concerns when policies may unintentionally limit transparency, operational expertise, and the whole community's ability to hear complete information.
Aurora Police Association President David Exstrom said the department is deliberate about what it shares with the public.
In a letter to city council, Exstrom said the policy seeks to dictate and limit the information the department shares with community members.
I have seen firsthand that when we publish information about an investigation or an arrest – with a booking photo – we often have additional victims come forward because they recognize the face of their attacker. Prohibiting us from publishing names and booking photos will significantly impact criminal investigations and prevent us from seeking justice on behalf of victims of some of the most heinous crimes we investigate.
The Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police also condemned the resolution, saying the policy would create unnecessary barriers to timely, factual communication between law enforcement and the public.
MiDian Shofner, community advocate and CEO of Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, said the policy is necessary to create guardrails for the police department's communication with the public.
"Oftentimes, we will see them post on social media, they'll narrate an entire crime that they've been investigating, and they'll arrest someone, and they'll publish that mugshot name and their information to that particular narrative, and we all know that people are innocent until proven guilty," Shofner said. "We just see that that's tipping the scale of due process."
The City of Aurora is under a consent decree that was established in November 2021 following several incidents involving the Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Rescue, including the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. The purpose of the consent decree is to reform the two departments after the Colorado Attorney General’s Office found violations of state and federal laws due to racially biased policing and the use of force.
Several council members pushed back on the emergency resolution during Monday's meeting, saying the policy stifles the police chief's speech. Stephanie Hancock, Françoise Bergan, Angela Lawson, and Curtis Gardner voted no on the resolution.
"When transparency and communication are restricted, it actually weakens public trust. It limits factual understanding, and it creates space for misinformation and for speculation. It simply leaves us with fewer facts," Bergan said.
"This city council definitely doesn't need to approve anything, because we can't even get our own messaging right," Lawson said.
"It is unfortunate that we're moving forward with this, because let's call this exactly what this is: a direct attack on our police chief, to muzzle the police chief, to muzzle our police, to make our city less safe," Hancock said.
