Aurora’s police chief, Vanessa Wilson, has been ousted after around two years on the job, the city announced Wednesday morning. 

City Manager Jim Twombly said at a news conference that Wilson’s firing was based on concerns about “overall management” and “overall leadership,” but did not name a specific catalyst that drove his decision. 

“It really comes down to a lack of confidence on my part for her to be able to lead the department,” he said. He declined to elaborate on what he deemed specific failures by Wilson. 

In a statement sent earlier Wednesday morning, Twombly said: “It is clear that Chief Wilson has prioritized community involvement. However, the police chief also needs to effectively manage the operations of the department, effectively engage with staff, build morale, and validate employee feedback.”

Wilson took on the role of interim chief early in 2020, and City Council appointed her to the position permanently in August that year. She took the helm of a department roiling with controversy because of Elijah McClain’s death during a police stop in 2019. Five officers and paramedics have been charged in connection with his death. 

Also during Wilson’s tenure was an investigation by the attorney general’s office, which found a pattern of Aurora police officers violating residents’ civil rights and using excessive force. The department is under a consent decree with the state to bring systemic changes to its practices.

In a statement, attorneys for Wilson slammed the decision to fire her, calling it the culmination of a coordinated effort by conservative City Council members to unfairly pin responsibility for the “department’s long-standing historical problems” on her.

“In reality, Chief Wilson made numerous attempts to have good faith discussions with the City leadership about these issues and repeatedly sought the resources necessary to resolve them from the City Council. City leadership refused these efforts, preferring instead to smear the reputation of a dedicated police officer who has served the Aurora Police Department for over two decades, and courageously agreed to take the helm in one of the City’s most difficult times to bring needed reforms.”

At-Large Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, whom Wilson’s statement names as part of an effort to undermine her leadership, has previously called for replacing Wilson as chief. She told The Denver Gazette that she didn’t have a vendetta against Wilson, but she did have concerns about attrition in the department over the past two years.

Officers she has had conversations with said they left the department because of their chief, Jurinsky said, and not because of increased public scrutiny of policing or Colorado’s sweeping law enforcement reform bill that lawmakers passed in 2020. 

“I found out, resoundingly, no. It is solely because of the chief and the lack of support,” Jurinsky said.

Wilson’s firing does not change the city’s obligation to meet the terms of the state’s consent decree. She had also been outspoken about what she believed were necessary reforms to the Police Department, such as wanting the chief to have a role in hiring new officers, a responsibility that now falls to the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Alison Coombs said she believes ousting Wilson undermines the city’s credibility in implementing reforms and also makes it harder for the Police Department’s next leader to make changes without fear of retaliation.

“The message this sends is that if it gets too hard, if officers are upset or if council members oppose what’s being done, that as a person responsible for implementing those changes, you can be fired,” Coombs said.

Twombly said he began having conversations with Wilson about concerns over her leadership about a month ago. 

Rumors began circulating in the past few weeks about Wilson’s possible departure. An attorney representing her told Denver Gazette news partner 9News that Twombly proposed a strategy for her resignation, but Wilson said publicly through her attorneys she would not resign.

Aurora’s city manager discusses the decision to search for new leadership after the firing of Police Chief Vanessa Wilson.

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A recent report by PRI Management Group that found the Police Department’s records section had a backlog of thousands of crime reports awaiting processing emerged as a flashpoint in the debate over Wilson’s leadership. 9News reported at the time of the audit in early March that the department had 2,512 reports in the queue, but a spokesperson said there were 1,252 pending processing this week.

Twombly denied Wilson was fired because of the backlog.

However, Mayor Mike Coffman said at Wednesday’s news conference that the report pushed him to support Wilson’s firing. He said he believes Wilson was the right person when she was appointed to lead the department at “a pretty challenging time in terms of restoring trust in our community,” but the report by PRI about the department’s records backlog was “a monumental failure of leadership.”

It “compromised the public safety of our city,” Coffman said.

Jurinsky doesn’t believe policing reforms are inherently anti-police, but said she believes the records backlog is a symptom that Wilson “forgot about her department” amid her focus on community relationships and public image. 

“Who is talking about these 2,500 victims who haven’t even had their cases transcribed into the records system in Aurora to start even being investigated? Those are the real victims,” Jurinsky said.

Keith Parker, the chairman of Colorado’s House District 42 in northern Aurora, said residents are concerned about Wilson’s firing because of her role seeing the department through a tumultuous period, adding the decision feels abrupt.

“And to go and get somebody else to try and deal with that, that’s an issue and there should have been more planning, in my opinion,” Parker said.

Parker said the decision to oust her seems like it was made for emotional reasons. While he doesn’t think Wilson was a perfect leader, he believes she did the best she could with the department she inherited. He said she made sincere efforts to engage with Aurora’s residents and listen to their concerns.

“She did a decent job of being community-oriented. I can’t take that away from her,” Parker said.

Division Chief Chris Juul will temporarily oversee the Police Department’s operations. He did not comment at Wednesday’s news conference.

Twombly said the city expects to name an interim chief in two to three weeks. The city manager has the authority to appoint Aurora’s police chief, with approval from a majority of City Council. 

One of two Aurora police unions said it supports Wilson’s termination. In a statement, the Aurora Police Association wrote: “We look forward to working closely with a new incoming administration, prioritizing the morale of the officers, leadership of the Administration and service to the citizens of Aurora. We are committed to working with the incoming administration, City Administration, and City Council, to rebuild our police department in order to recruit and retain officers to ensure our city and neighborhoods are a safe place to work and live.”

The president of the Aurora Fraternal Order of Police – the Police Department’s bargaining union – did not respond to a request for comment. 

Denver Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed to this report.

Wilson became interim police chief in the beginning of 2020 after 23 years with the department.

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