AURORA — The numbers don’t make sense, community members and city officials say.
The Aurora Police Department is more than 85 percent white. Yet, this city of 345,000 is a diverse community in which more than 100 languages are spoken. Latinos make up nearly 28 percent of the population and blacks 16 percent, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
Whoever is named the new police chief in Aurora must address the discrepancy, say those watching the selection process.
“The police chief has to be able to bring diversity to his team — women, Hispanics, blacks, as well as Asians,” said community activist Glenda Wells Evans, who has worked with the city in previous police chief selections.
The new police chief, replacing former Chief Dan Oates, could be named as soon as this week. City manager Skip Noe will make the call on the next top cop, although he has not given a deadline for his decision.
The City Council must formally adopt Noe’s selection, which could happen as early as the next council meeting, Jan. 12.
The are Jose Bañales, San Antonio assistant police chief; Fran Gomez, Commerce City deputy police chief; Nick Metz, Seattle assistant police chief; and Roy Minter Jr., police chief in Peoria, Ariz.
Naming a chief soon is key because current Interim Chief Terry Jones, who did not apply for the job permanently, plans to leave in February or early March, and there needs to be a timely transition.
While issues such as making the department more transparent and improving morale among the rank-and-file are priorities, diversifying the ranks needs to be among the new chief’s top priorities, said City Councilwoman Barb Cleland, chairwoman of the city’s Public Safety Committee.
Cleland says one way to do that is get more people of color participating on issues that affect police. She said the city should not only recruit new minority police cadets but also reach out to minorities in other police departments to make lateral moves to Aurora.
“For years I’ve been saying we need to get the minority community involved with the police department,” Cleland said. “My hope is that with the new police chief, this will be a priority.”
The new police chief, whoever is chosen, will be a first. The department has not had an African-American, Latino or female top cop, according to several city officials. Minter Jr. is black, Bañales is Latino, Metz is of African-American and Italian descent and Gomez is a woman.
Adding more minorities is also of importance after the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009 launched a probe of the Aurora police and fire departments because of the lack of people of color in those departments.
Aurora made some improvements in that area by changing certain testing requirements and holding job fairs to recruit minorities. Last year, the on Aurora and did not issue sanctions.
It could have issued a court-ordered consent decree to guide department hirings.
The justice department did not say why it ended the probe, only that it was over.
Deb Wallace, chairwoman of the Aurora Civil Service Commission, which, among other things, oversees the hiring and promotion of police, said some minorities are raised not to trust police, so getting them to become officers can be difficult.
It’s up to the new chief to lead the city in that area, she said.
“We need to get the recruiters within the police department to reach out and recruit more people that look like the community at large,” Wallace said.
The police union said the new chief will have other pressing priorities as well, such as “accountability from the command staff,” said Mark Finnin, who ended his term Wednesday as union president. “There is no accountability from the sergeant up. There are double standards on discipline.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
