AURORA | The latest Aurora police monitoring report found meaningful progress by the city’s public safety departments to address excessive use of force and prevent bias, concluding that the city is likely to complete its consent decree mandates on time in spring 2027.

The 11th monitoring report, which covers February to August, was released Oct. 15 and shows significant compliance with a majority of state-mandated police reforms, particularly establishing a thorough review process for use of force incidents.

“Much of the foundational work required by the (consent decree) is now in place, and APD in particular has continued to advance several complex systems and processes that are important to long-term operational integrity,” the report said. “These systems are being implemented with a high degree of rigor, supported by meaningful investment in technology, analytical capacity, and personnel with technical and data expertise.”

The monitoring reports are part of a state-imposed consent decree, which resulted from investigations into repeated incidents of excessive use of force and discrimination by Aurora police, particularly against people of color. It was prompted following the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of police and first responders after being stopped, even though he was unarmed. McClain was not suspected or accused of any crimes, but he was walking at home at night from a convenience store.

The decree originally outlined 78 mandates to implement broad reforms in training, accountability, use-of-force policies, data systems and community engagement. Earlier this year, the 10th monitoring report found that the city was compliant with 15 of the mandates prohibiting the use of ketamine and creating guardrails for chemical sedation, which removed them from future reports.

Of the 63 remaining mandates, the city is 79% substantially compliant and the remaining mandates are “on the right track.”

The decree is overseen by IntegrAssure, a paid contractor that works alongside city staff and public safety leaders to monitor and ensure progress.

In a statement to the Sentinel, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said continuous work at the department has resulted in the fewest use of force incidents in the last five years and an overall reduction in crime of 39% over the last two years. 

“The work that has gone into going above and beyond the scope of the consent decree cannot be overstated,” Chamberlain said. “Our workflow for Use of Force reports has been standardized to bring the agency into full compliance and our continuing emphasis on de-escalation, less-lethal options and tactical training have also aided in the creation of a first-of-its-kind bias screening that can be replicated by any agency to identify indicators for review.”

Chamberlain also pointed to the report’s acknowledgement of the department’s commitment to constitutional policing. He said the department has “fundamentally changed the way in which policing in this country can be done for the better.”

“While a date has yet to be established for completion of the consent decree, I have no doubt that when that does occur, the city of Aurora will be serving as a model for other cities and agencies across the United States,” Chamberlain said.

A statement from Ryan Luby, city spokesperson, said the report speaks for itself and “underscores the city’s longstanding commitment to the process and to continuous improvement.”

However, not everyone feels the department is progressing positively, with community activists continuing to call for Chamberlain to be fired, including holding an overnight sit-in at the municipal building earlier this month.

MiDian Shofner, founder of the organization The Epitome of Black Excellence, raised several concerns with Chamberlain’s leadership during the sit-in, including taking issue with his rhetoric and alleging a lack of accountability.

“Whether the obstacle is unwillingness or inability, the resulting concern is the same — a failure to demonstrate the leadership competencies required of Aurora’s chief of police,” Shofner said.

City Manager Jason Batchelor defended Chamberlain at the sit-in and said there are no plans to replace him.

When evaluating the last six-months, the report is largely positive and indicates that the city could be released from the consent decree as early as May 2027 if it meets the requirement of substantial compliance with all remaining mandates. 

It noted that moving forward the city should work to integrate the newly-created Office of Public Safety Accountability with the existing efforts at the APD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and City Auditor’s Office. It recommends that the public safety accountability office be integrated into the last monitoring report for a seamless hand-off between future monitoring efforts.

Luby said the city is in the candidate review phase for the manager of the Office of Public Safety Accountability, which will include community engagement and a meet and greet with candidates.

“The progress reflected in (the report) provides substantial reason for optimism as Aurora enters this next phase,” the report said. “The ultimate objective, however, is clearly not simply to reach the end of the Consent Decree, but, rather, to leave Aurora with systems for constitutional policing, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement that endure in perpetuity.”

While APD was already reviewing use of force incidents, the report highlights a recently implemented change that now requires every use-of-force to be reviewed by the Force Investigations Unit before final closure. 

“The change was designed to improve classification and documentation accuracy, promote consistency with policy and training, and verify that assigned remediation is completed and recorded,” the report said. 

The report also notes that there has been one officer involved shooting in the first nine months of 2026, compared to five over the same period of time in 2025. During the reporting period, there were a total of 422 use of force incidents, with a majority (342) being the lowest level use of force.

The report said there were no “substantial concerns regarding officers’ use or documentation of de-escalation.”

Similarly, the report praised the police department for its operational review processes “evolving toward a more mature system of data-driven policing oversight and accountability.” 

Also called out in the report is the police department’s bias-screening framework, which was updated earlier this year and has made “significant progress.” The report recommended some data be added or specified, such as the initial stop decision, custody-versus-summons decisions, specified low-level offenses, search yield and consent searches, arrest severity and use of force rates and severity by race.

Overall, the report’s summary said the department’s focus is creating complex institutional systems to identify risks, bias, policy violations and potential opportunities for improvements.

“APD has made meaningful progress in establishing these systems as durable mechanisms for identifying risk, supporting accountability, and driving continuous improvement,” the report said. “The central question is no longer simply whether required policies, processes, and structures exist, but whether APD can demonstrate that they are functioning as intended—identifying risk, driving appropriate action, and producing sustained improvement.”

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