Aurora – Race and police were the topics more than a dozen community members wanted interim Police Chief Terry Jones to talk about at a community issues forum attended by about 100 people Thursday night.
“You have a big problem in Aurora,” Mike Underwood of Denver said at the meeting in the City Council chambers. “You have no respect for blacks here. You are doing a lot of profiling. You got all white males running Aurora. That is a joke.”
“This department is battling a perception,” Jones said at one point. “Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s something that we’re obligated to get a hold of. This is why we’re having this meeting. It’s a start. We’re taking a step forward.”
The chief answered questions about when police use force, how officers are disciplined, and why more African- Americans haven’t been hired by the department. Some black audience members accused the Police Department of profiling blacks and of unjustified violence toward the African-American community.
“Aurora has a lot of outstanding shootings,” said Shareef Aleem of Aurora Copwatch. “We have a problem when police go too far.”
“If we have lumps coming, I intend to take them,” Jones answered. “If we have obligations to make, we’ll make those. But when the blame isn’t appropriate, then I’ll try to set the record straight.”
Eric Cook of Centennial said: “I’m very concerned about what I’ve been seeing regarding the use of deadly force. Are there any plans to make changes or review the use of deadly force in Aurora?”
“The use of force is not taken lightly,” Jones responded, adding that each case gets a thorough review.
Jones went on to talk about a board of police and community members that would examine cases in which police use deadly force.
And he cited statistics that showed out of 276,441 police calls in 2004, only 244 involved use of force, such as firing Tasers, using pepper spray and shooting guns.
Later, Jones met with people individually.
“People want to know they’re getting a police department that isn’t biased,” he said. “We have a reputation we must try to change. We’re not going to stop. This is a good start.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.