AURORA, Colo. — The two finalists announced for the Aurora police chief position are in town making their case to leaders and community members through a series of interviews and meet-and-greets.
Scott Ebner and David Franklin both fielded questions on topics ranging from police accountability, to reported over-policing in certain neighborhoods, to their plans for building trust and increasing diversity among the force.
“To have this forum, to sit here and meet and greet anyone that wants to come in and talk to us from the community is extremely important,” said Ebner, who is a retired lieutenant colonel and deputy superintendent of administration for New Jersey State Police.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, you know, and it’s something not to take lightly,” said Franklin, who is currently the chief of staff for the Albuquerque Police Department.
Prior to Tuesday evening’s meet-and-greet, members of the Aurora Police Oversight Committee held a press conference to denounce the process and call for the city to start over, with members of the committee playing an active role in the selection and vetting of candidates. The members said promises of their inclusion were broken, and warned that both finalists would face doubt from the community if chosen as a result, given that both are white men.
“We will no longer sit by and allow this to continue,” said committee member Candice Bailey. “Reinstate the task force immediately, and stop this process as it is unjust and undemocratic.”
“We want to know who was on that committee that brought it down to three people, and now down to two,” said fellow member Pastor Thomas Mayes. “What is the process? And why were we not involved?”
One of the only committee members to attend the meet-and-greet with the candidates was community activist Lindsay Minter. She said she had good conversations with both finalists, but at the end of the day, she is still calling on the city of Aurora to scrap the process and start anew.
“Invite the youth voices,” Minter said. “Invite the community to be a part of this. Invite us to look at these applications and packets that people submit, and put them in piles like "yay," or "nay." You know, go back to the basics.”
According to the city of Aurora, both police chief finalists will interview with the mayor and members of the Aurora City Council Wednesday.