Residents urge Aurora council to fire Police Chief Todd Chamberlain, call his community response team 'propaganda'

Dozens of speakers used the council’s public-comment period on March 9 to demand the removal of Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain and to criticize a recently announced APD "community response team".

"We have an outstanding unmet demand for you to get rid of this racist corrupt police chief, Todd Chamberlain," said Ryan Stitzel, who identified himself as a Ward 1 resident and a member of the Denver Aurora Community Action Committee. Stitzel accused the chief of overseeing a culture of lies and cover-ups following several police killings and said the community had been kept out of the response-team process.

Cassandra Heil, who identified herself with the Denver Work Community Action Committee (ACAG), called the panel "propaganda," saying it was "handpicked by Chamberlain" and lacked public oversight. "Where are the voices on this panel of those who have been brutalized by the police? Where are the family members of those who have been killed by the police? They're absent and that absence tells us everything," Heil said, adding that APD remains subject to a state consent decree.

Della Ann Jordan, who introduced herself and said she is disabled, recounted seeking help at the Aurora Regional Navigation Center and said she was assaulted after complaining. "I did not sign away my civil rights," Jordan said, and asked for a meeting with the mayor, the police chief and the shelter owner.

Other speakers described mothers grieving loved ones killed in encounters with APD and criticized elected officials for taking contributions from police unions, saying those ties impair accountability. Several public commenters said council members had not been properly informed about the community response team and urged the council to insist on inclusion of families and critics when the panel is formed.

The speakers’ remarks were part of the meeting’s public-comment block; council members did not take formal action on the chief during the session. The council’s formal business later addressed separate agenda items including an urban renewal plan and appointments.

Ending: Public comment closed after extended remarks asking for greater transparency and community involvement in police oversight; no immediate personnel action was taken at the March 9 meeting.