Aurora police have a lot on their plate, including rising crime

The Aurora Police Department is doubling down on its pledge to improve policing after Elijah McClain's death from the hands of law enforcement in 2019 — but promises may be hard to keep when internal strife and crippling crime waves keep getting in the way.

Driving the news: The Colorado Attorney General's Office and heads of Aurora's police and fire departments announced Tuesday they agreed to an overhaul as part of a consent decree mandating changes around public safety practices.

• The five-year agreement comes in the wake of a state investigation that determined the police department routinely exerted excessive force and showed a pattern of racial bias.

Details: The requirements outlined in the consent decree include improving use-of-force training to prevent "unnecessarily escalating encounters" with civilians and diversifying the police and fire workforces to "better reflect the city's diversity," Attorney General Phil Weiser said at a briefing.

• Aurora's elected officials are now required to hire an independent monitor to keep tabs on the police and fire departments' progress toward achieving the agreed-upon conditions.

Yes, but: The police are preoccupied amid a crime spike and a high-profile mass shooting this week.

• Violent crime is hitting record highs in Aurora. Just one day before the announcement, a drive-by shooting left six high school students injured — causing the police chief to declare youth violence a public health crisis. Numerous other shootings and murders have occurred within the past month.
• Aurora police remained embroiled in controversy. The police union held a "no confidence" vote in police chief Vanessa Wilson, who says she’s committed to reform. And multiple officers are being suspended, fired or even arrested for excessive force this year.

• What’s more, the police department also faces a severe staffing shortage.

What they’re saying: "I need you to believe in this agency," Wilson told community members Tuesday. "We’re not going to shy away from reform."

The bottom line: Aurora Police remain in the spotlight more than two years after McClain’s death, and questions about whether the city’s officers can rebuild community trust while keeping people safe remain unanswered.