Independent investigation into the Aurora Police Department has been released

Aurora police officers had no legal basis to force Elijah McClain to stop walking, search him or use a stranglehold on him, an independent investigation commissioned by the city found.

The initial investigation into the incident led by the investigators from the Major Crimes Division was also seriously flawed, the investigators found. The detectives did not pose fundamental, critical questions to the agents involved in McClain’s death and instead, “the questions often seemed to elicit specific exonerating ‘magical language’ from court decisions,” the report states.

The detectives’ report was relied upon by the department’s police and by the 17th judicial prosecutor, both of whom cleared the agents of misconduct.

In addition, the serious crime unit’s report expanded the record to exonerate the officers rather than present a neutral version of the facts, the investigators wrote.

“It is difficult to imagine that other individuals involved in a deadly incident would be interviewed like these agents,” the researchers continued.

Aurora city officials released the 157-page report on McClain’s death at the hands of city police and paramedics Monday morning. The city hired a panel of investigators to investigate the officers ‘and paramedics’ decision and make policy recommendations “to reduce the likelihood of another tragedy like this occurring again,” the report said.

Recommendations from the panel include reviewing the police accountability system and reviewing policies, training and practice related to arrest standards and the use of force.

“The body-worn camera audio, limited video, and Major Crime’s interviews with the officers tell two opposite stories,” the report said. The statements made by the officers on the ground and in subsequent recorded interviews suggest a violent and brutal struggle. The limited video and audio from the body-worn cameras show that Mr. McClain is surrounded by cops, all taller than him, who cries out in pain, apologizes, explains himself, and pleads the cops. “

The researchers also found that Aurora paramedics did not properly examine McClain before injecting him with 500 milligrams of the sedative ketamine – a dose based on a “grossly inaccurate” estimate of McClain’s weight. Paramedics estimate that he weighed 190 pounds, but he actually weighed closer to 140 pounds.

“Aurora Fire appears to have accepted the officers’ impression that Mr. McClain had induced delirium, without corroborating that impression through meaningful observation or diagnostic examination of Mr. McClain,” the investigators wrote.

The outside consultants hired to conduct the investigation presented their findings to the Aurora city government Monday morning – initial findings were made public from several ongoing investigations into the incident taking place at every level of government.

Aurora’s government leaders ordered the investigation on July 20 when McClain’s death caught international attention in 2019. Widespread police brutality protests against black people exploded in the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department, and dozens of protests and vigils have been held in McClain’s name.

The survey included an evaluation of the city’s relevant policies, procedures and practices, including the way police and firefighters interact with people, their use of violence, their use of the sedative ketamine, and how the city assesses incidents. However, the investigators’ request to interview the agents and paramedics involved was denied.

The investigation was led by Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. Smith previously led the section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice that conducted the investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri, police department after the death of Michael Brown.

Aurora City Council will discuss the findings of the report at a special meeting Monday at 5:00 p.m. The public can view the meeting on AuroraTV.org or on Comcast Channels 8/880 in Aurora.

The results of the city-initiated investigation are the first to be made public from several ongoing investigations into McClain’s death. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has asked a grand jury to look into the case and see if any criminal charges are warranted, and the United States Department of Justice is also investigating whether officers have violated McClain’s civil rights.

McClain’s family has also filed a federal lawsuit against Aurora.

Three Aurora police officers detained McClain on August 24, 2019, after receiving a call about a suspect. When McClain refused to stop walking, the officers ground him, strangled and handcuffed him before a paramedic injected McClain with ketamine, a powerful sedative.

McClain suffered cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital, where he was later declared brain dead. He was created on August 30, 2019. McClain was not suspected of a crime.

The Adams County coroner ruled that McClain’s cause of death was undetermined and the district attorney of the 17th Judicial District found the three police officers who forcibly held him were not criminally liable. A police review of the incident found that the three officers did not violate any policy and were not punished. Both the police chief and the prosecutor who made those decisions have since left their positions.