Aurora – The City Council may look at changing its rules on how it compensates people for damage incurred during a police search of a residence.
The matter arose in December when the owner of the home where Aaroné Thompson went missing asked the city to fix damage made during the police’s extensive search of the property in November.
Police never found Aaroné, though they dug up the backyard and went through the home “with a fine-tooth comb,” according to Aurora Deputy Police Chief Terry Jones.
The city refused to compensate landlord Jasbir Singh, and the matter was dropped.
City Attorney Charlie Richardson said the city’s policy doesn’t offer compensation for damage if a legitimate reason for the search exists. Richardson said the search of 16551 E. Kepner Place was legitimate and no compensation should be given to Singh.
Kin Shuman, the city’s human-resources director who also is responsible for risk management, said he went through the home and found the damage from the investigation to be minimal.
Nevertheless, Councilman Larry Beer heard about the no-compensation rule and thought it was unfair.
“It seems to me that that policy runs the risk of damaging innocent third-party landlords,” he said.
Beer brought the matter to Councilman Ryan Frazier, who heads the council’s subcommittee on public safety.
Frazier felt it should be discussed at the April 19 meeting.
“The concept of government going into someone’s home for rightful legal investigation … and to damage property and not have any liability, that doesn’t seem right,” Frazier said. “I believe it is an issue that needs to be revisited to determine if, in fact, it is legitimate or if there are some modifications to the policy that need to be made.”
Singh couldn’t be reached for comment.
Police haven’t found Aaroné, who would be 7 years old now.
Authorities have said they believe she was killed as long as two years ago. No arrests have been made, and the police continue to call Aaroné’s father and his girlfriend “persons of interest” in her disappearance.
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
