The independent monitor overseeing Aurora’s compliance with a state consent decree for reforms to the city’s safety agencies said the city has cooperated in the first two months since the monitor’s appointment. He said the outlook is bright for the city’s progress toward reforms deemed necessary by the attorney general’s office.

“In the 60 days since we were appointed, we have received exemplary cooperation from the city, from APD, from AFR and the Civil Service Commission,” said Jeff Schlanger, president of IntegrAssure, the company appointed as the independent monitor, in a town hall held Tuesday night.

Aurora chooses IntegrAssure as independent monitor to oversee consent decree

Aurora is currently under a consent agreement with the state for making changes to the city’s safety agencies after an investigation by the attorney general’s office found patterns of bias and excessive force in policing. The fire department also had a pattern of using the sedative ketamine in violation of the law, the investigation found, though the department stopped using the drug more than a year ago.

The consent decree addresses six overarching topics in the Civil Service Commission, Aurora PD and Aurora Fire Rescue:

• Racial bias in policing
• Use of force
• Documenting stops
• Use of ketamine and other sedatives as chemical restraint
• Recruiting, hiring and promotions
• Disciplinary processes and oversight

The consent agreement will last at least five years, and Aurora’s compliance is enforceable in court.

Members of IntegrAssure’s monitoring team talked Tuesday about the scope of their work and fielded questions from community members.

Several attendees brought up the role of mental health in policing. Having trained mental health professionals to respond to calls for service and adequate support for officers so they don’t take out stress and frustration on members of the public during encounters were both concerns.

Attorney general, Aurora announce consent agreement for changes to city’s police, fire departments

Others said the monitor’s echo promises of reform that have been made before but they don’t believe were fulfilled.

The controversial firing of former Police Chief Vanessa Wilson earlier this month is still fresh on residents’ minds, and one woman said people are concerned Wilson’s ousting will mean Aurora will backslide in its progress toward reforms she supported.

“We will accept nothing less than a chief – both interim and ultimately permanent — who is committed to everything that Chief Wilson was committed to, in terms of making sure that this consent decree reaches its goal of substantial compliance and a process of continuous improvement that will be sustained long after we leave,” Schlanger said.

Daniel Oates, who served as Aurora’s police chief from 2005 to 2014, was named interim chief Wednesday.

Aurora seeks public input in search for consent decree monitor

Some attendees vented their frustrations about encounters they had had with police and what they said was a lack of accountability for force incidents, and one man spoke about his experiences having to wait up to an hour for police to respond to his emergency calls. Schlanger said scrutinizing the investigation process after an incident is an area of focus for the consent decree.

City officials and members of the consent decree team told attendees they heard their concerns and would find out more about the incidents they spoke about, and asked to speak later with several people individually.

“All of you deserve the same service that any other member of this community deserves,” said then-Acting Chief Chris Juul.