Aurora police department fires union president over controversial email

---

The Aurora Police Department (APD), in Colorado, fired a union president over comments he made in an email criticizing new measures around police reform and public safety.

Key Players

Doug Wilkinson, the former president of the Aurora Police Association, was hired in 2002.

Vanessa Wilson was the Aurora chief of police until April 2022, when she had been fired for unrelated issues. 

Phil Weiser (D) has served as the 39th attorney general of Colorado since 2019.

The Aurora Police Association (APA) is one of two police unions in the city of Aurora. The other is the Aurora Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 49.

Further Details

Part of Denver’s Metropolitan Statistical Area, Aurora, which lies to the larger city’s east, Aurora leans moderately liberal.  

On Nov. 16, 2021, the APD announced it had reached an agreement with Attorney General Weiser to reform policing and improve public safety, CBS Denver reported.  

The agreement came after an investigation team appointed by Weiser’s office found that the APD had “a pattern and practice of racially biased policing, using excessive force, and failing to record required information when it interacts with the community,” adding that the biased policing often targets “people of color as a whole and Black people in particular.”

“The racial disparities we observed extend to nearly every significant facet of police contact with the community, from interactions to arrests to uses of force,” the investigation noted. 

The 14-month investigation was the result of nationwide outrage over the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who passed away in 2019 days after he was detained by APD. 

After receiving a 911 call saying McClain, who was walking home from a convenience store, “looked sketchy,” The New York Times reported, APD officers attempted to handcuff him and used a carotid hold (a now-banned chokehold method). Paramedics injected him with ketamine, a powerful sedative. On the way to the hospital, McClain went into cardiac arrest.

McClain’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Aurora on Aug. 11, 2020. The suit named the city, 12 police officers, two Fire Department paramedics, and the department’s medical director as defendants. In November 2021, city officials and lawyers for McClain’s family said they had finalized an agreement to settle the lawsuit for $15 million.

The five-year agreement with the attorney general commits the APD and other government departments to a framework for addressing specific issues. Included is new guidance for exercising discretion and addressing police bias during interactions, new training for de-escalation and use of force, increased efforts to hire a more diverse workforce and a review of policies for administration of chemical sedatives. 

But on the day of the agreement, Wilkinson condemned it in an email sent out to 240 APA union members, CBS reported.  

“‘Diversity’ isn’t defined or justified by them,” Wilkinson wrote. “I suppose that the city could do political polling to make sure that the average politics of the department reflects the political ‘diversity’ of ‘the community’. Or, to match the ‘diversity’ of ‘the community’, we could make sure to hire 10% illegal aliens, 50% weed smokers, 10% Crackheads, and a few child molesters and murderers to round it out. You know, so we can make the department look like the ‘community.’”

“But I’m pretty sure that’s not the ‘diversity’ they are talking about,” he continued. “I’m pretty sure they are simply talking about the only currency leftists deal in: identity politics. We’d prefer that they focus on intelligence, personal ethics, and courage, which should be our only criteria for hiring and promotion. We should only be interested in merit. But that will never do. They’re addicted to race and sex politics.”

Wilkinson called the policies “literally systematically sexist and racist.”

Five colleagues submitted complaints over his email to APD’s human resources officials. On Nov. 17, 2021, Wilson placed Wilkinson on paid administrative leave and opened an investigation into his comments.

“Chief Wilson is very concerned about the allegations that have been brought forth by several concerned and courageous employees,” an aide told CBS. “We would like to remind the media and our community that the Aurora Police Association does not speak for the Aurora Police Department nor are they the recognized bargaining unit with the City of Aurora.”

Wilkinson told CBS his email to 240 union members was intended to be a private letter. “I’m trying to have an honest conversation” without it becoming a “word salad,” he said. He also told the Sentinel via email he was not allowed to comment on his suspension because of the ongoing investigation.

Outcome

Wilkinson fired

On Feb. 3, 2022, Wilson announced the APD had fired Wilkinson effective immediately over his email. An independent HR investigation found Wilkinson had violated the city’s anti-harassment policy and the APD’s directive on discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment.

Wilkinson appealed his firing to the city’s Civil Service Commission. The commission upheld his dismissal, saying, “The Commission intends to send a clear message that racist and sexist statements that divide the police force and community have no place in Aurora.”

Criminal charges involving McClain’s death are still pending. In September 2021, a grand jury indicted three police officers and two paramedics on charges including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. In January 2023, all five pleaded not guilty to the charges.