(February 23, 2023) — Aurora Police Department released body worn camera footage today showing a use of force incident that occurred last year. The involved officer was reassigned on Feb. 2 and is currently working in a non-enforcement capacity, pending the outcomes of criminal and internal investigations.
On Aug. 14, 2022, the officer was escorting a suspect out of a local hospital in handcuffs. As they approached the exit, the officer forcefully took the handcuffed suspect to the ground, resulting in facial injuries.
Due to the initial classification and the Force Investigation Unit’s caseload, the August 2022 incident wasn’t reviewed until mid-January 2023. After the preliminary review, the Force Investigation Unit elevated the use of force to a Tier 2 and immediately notified the Office of the Chief of Police.
The Chief of Police authorized an internal investigation into the incident and requested the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to conduct a separate, external criminal investigation.
The criminal investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is complete and was forwarded today to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for consideration of filing formal charges. The internal investigation is ongoing.
The incident has prompted two significant operational changes at the Aurora Police Department to avoid months-long delays of use of force investigations in the future.
All use of force incidents will now be immediately investigated and reviewed by an officer’s supervisor and then evaluated at the district level by the chain of command. If the use of force is questionable or unclear, the case will be elevated to the Force Investigations Unit for immediate review.
Additionally, an internal investigation will take place at the same time as a criminal investigation.
“In the past, when an officer was accused of a crime, the practice has been to wait until the criminal investigation was completed and adjudicated before launching an internal investigation. That is not a good practice,” Aurora police Chief Art Acevedo said. “We will now conduct a parallel internal affairs investigation and take our own independent action based on our findings.”
The Aurora Police Department released footage of the 2022 incident to the media in accordance with state law. The agency is releasing the video to the public as part of our continued commitment to community transparency.
Go to the Aurora Police Department's YouTube channel to view the bodycam.
Joe Moylan
Public Information Officer
720.432.5095
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