AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A suburban Denver police department whose officers were indicted in the death of Elijah McClain will revamp its use-of-force policies and launch new training programs in an effort to combat bias. It is part of an agreement announced Tuesday following an investigation that found a pattern of racially-biased policing and excessive force.
The probe was launched amid outrage over the death of McClain, a Black man who who was put into a chokehold by police and injected by paramedics with ketamine in 2019.
Vanessa Wilson, front, chief of the Aurora, Colo., Police Department, joins Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in listening during a news conference about the consent decree reached betwen the police agency and the state Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Aurora, Colo. Following an investigation by the office of the attorney general, the state and the Aurora department reached an agreement to change the agency’s use-of-force policies as well as hiring and training practices in the eastern suburb of Denver. (Philip B. Poston/Aurora Sentinel via AP)Chief Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora, Colo., Police Department speaks about an agreement reached with the state’s top law enforcement official to enact changes to Aurora’s use-of-force policies as well as the department’s hiring and training practices during a news conference Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Aurora, Colo. The consent decree was reached following an investigation by the attorney general’s office that found a pattern of racially-biased policing and a routine use of excessive force on the part of the department’s officers. (Philip B. Poston/Aurora Sentinel via AP)Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser talks during a news conference to announce that the state and Aurora, Colo., Police Department have reached a consent decree to make changes in the wake of an investigation into the agency’s practices Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Aurora, Colo. Following the investigation by the attorney general’s office, the state found a pattern of racially-biased policing and routine use of excessive force. (Philip B. Poston/Aurora Sentinel via AP)
The deal has been signed off on by Colorado’s attorney general and city officials but still hinges on approval by city council.
