LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The City of Lakewood has paused the work of the temporary committee created to explore police oversight in the city, canceling a scheduled Aug. 25 meeting. The pause comes after friends and family of Jax Gratton — whose disappearance and death last year sparked the push for oversight — raised concerns about how the committee was formed and how its first three meetings went.
READ MORE: Jury returns indictment in connection with Jax Gratton's 2025 death in Lakewood
More than a year after Jax Gratton was last seen, the people who knew her best are still doing whatever they can to keep her memory alive.
"There's some days that I think we probably made Jax really proud, especially when we've done different campaigns for trans rights and things like that," said Z Williams, Gratton's friend.
But those who rallied for justice after Gratton went missing and was later found dead now say the temporary oversight committee created as a result isn't living up to their standards.
READ MORE: LGBTQ+ community packs Lakewood City Council meeting in support of Jax Gratton
Why the committee exists
Williams said the push for police accountability in Lakewood started with how officers handled Gratton's case.
"After Jax went missing and was ultimately found dead, there were multitudes of police missteps in the process, ranging from deadnaming her and how her family was treated to actually a lack of due diligence in the investigation," Williams said. "We feel very strongly that that happened because Jax is trans, and that there's so much bias in the police department against trans women."
Williams said the community wanted the Lakewood Police Department held accountable, not just for how they say it treated Gratton, but for how they say it treats other marginalized communities.
"When approached about police oversight, [Lakewood City Council] stated that they needed to make a committee to decide what police oversight looked like," Williams said. "City council decided to create this committee."
What went wrong, according to Williams
Williams said the committee that emerged wasn't what the community asked for.
READ MORE: Jax Gratton's friends ask for independent task force to look into her death
"First of all, we had asked for police oversight, not for a committee," Williams said. "The committee was sort of the compromise that we had made, and we had fought very hard, specifically to not include a police officer or anyone who is a part of the police in Lakewood on the committee."
Williams also raised concerns about who ended up on the committee and how they were chosen.
"The recruitment happened in the shadows completely," Williams said. "A majority of the people on this committee are from Ward Five, which is one of the whitest and wealthiest wards in Lakewood. There's no representation from Ward Two, my ward, that is the most racially and economically diverse ward, and there is no effort really done to recruit people from the community."
Williams said the committee's first three meetings focused more on introductions and icebreakers than substance.
The pause
The committee's next meeting was supposed to happen Tuesday, Aug. 25. Instead, it was canceled.
A notice now posted on Lakewood's website reads: "The city has paused the work of this temporary advisory committee to ensure that the right processes, logistics and plans are in place for this committee to conduct its work," as directed by City Council's resolution.
In a statement to Denver7, Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom said the city remains committed to the committee's work.
"The City Council is fully dedicated to the meaningful work of this temporary committee that we established, and we deeply appreciate the significance of this effort for our community," Strom said in the statement. She said the committee was created under a City Council resolution "to seek the community's guidance to thoughtfully explore whether to recommend a permanent police committee that balances transparency, community collaboration, accountability, and oversight."
Strom said the pause is meant to address real gaps in how the committee has operated so far.
"The committee's initial three meetings showed that greater clarity and structure is needed on how the committee should conduct its work, making this pause appropriate and beneficial," Strom said. "Establishing strong processes and meaningful logistics is a vital part of ensuring that we receive robust, well-grounded recommendations in 12 months when the committee's work is completed."
Strom added that the city sees this as "a chance to create a path forward that strengthens trust and partnership throughout the city."
What Williams wants to see next
Williams said the pause could be a step in the right direction — but only if it leads to real change.
"I think first and foremost, what has happened so far just needs a hard stop and restart," Williams said. "The process right now has been very ineffective, and one of the worst things that can happen is trying to drive a broken car — you're just going to break the car more. We can't do this. This is not going to work. This does not serve its purpose. We need to disband this committee, and we need to start again."
Williams said any restart needs to include facilitators who understand the subject matter, and a genuine effort to recruit a more representative group of committee members.
"If they aren't the ones to do this process, they should step back," Williams said. "It's okay to say, 'I'm not an expert in this field, and someone else needs to have more experience here.' There needs to be a robust recruitment process that actually brings diverse perspectives to this committee, and an effort to make sure that we have representation across the wards and different sectors of the community."
Williams said public input can't be treated as optional going forward.
"Interacting with the public is a requirement. It is not optional here," Williams said. "We are not asking, please consider this. We are saying we put you here to hear our concerns and to make a plan based on them. It's in the statute that was passed, and the fact that any committee would try and get away with that is just ridiculous."
As for whether the city's pause represents real change, Williams said that remains to be seen.
"It could be," Williams said. "Bureaucracies can say, 'Hey, it didn't work, and we're just going to step away from it.' I hope that they are using this pause to really understand the issues, and make a plan to do better, and to look back at what has gone so terribly wrong in the past few meetings."
What's next
It's still unclear when the committee will reconvene or what changes, if any, will be made before it does. But for Williams, the purpose of the fight hasn't changed.
"There has been a lack of accountability and a lack of integrity," Williams said. "There has been this desire to do it in the way that involved the least amount of conflict and the least amount of attention, instead of making sure that it actually has the impact that it needs to have."
"I will continue to hold the Lakewood City Council accountable and the Lakewood police accountable," Williams said. "As long as I have a breath in my body, I will keep hounding them and making sure that we see some semblance of justice."
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