AURORA, Colo. — In the most recent report from the Independent Consent Decree Monitor for the City of Aurora, the monitor raised questions surrounding Aurora Police Department’s handling of the Kilyn Lewis shooting.
Lewis was shot by Aurora Police SWAT Officer Michael Dieck in May while officers were trying to execute an arrest warrant. Lewis was unarmed, but was holding a cell phone, which APD said Dieck thought was a gun. Lewis died two days after the shooting.
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“There were questions which we indicated needed to be answered in the administrative investigation and/or the force review board review of the incident... The district attorney has already determined that criminal charges aren't warranted,” said Jeff Schlanger, independent consent decree monitor for the City of Aurora. “So, these go to the question of whether or not there were violations of policy, specifically with respect to the use (of force) calls that were followed during the incident itself, which include the lack of less lethal options.”
Schlanger’s report also asked APD to examine why officers approached Lewis without cover when the department considered the situation a “high-risk stop."
This is due to “the type of approach that was made at the time it was made, as well as questions more applicable to the overall incident relative to whether or not in fact Aurora Police Department should have been executing a warrant for Denver. And the last question was the retention of an officer after being involved in prior shootings," he said.
The report also said the officer who discharged his weapon, Dieck, has been involved in prior shootings and that history raises potential questions about the selection criteria for officers “assigned to SWAT operations and APD’s retention policies for members of the SWAT team”. The report said it is essential to determine whether the officer’s prior record was appropriately considered when assigning him to SWAT.
“In any use of force, especially in an officer-involved shooting, there’s the question of whether or not anything could have been done differently to have achieved a better outcome,” Schlanger said. “Officer-involved shootings, even in the best departments in the country, do occur. And the mark of the particular department and the measure of the particular department is not whether an officer-involved shooting occurs, but how it deals with that officer-involved shooting. Does it investigate it thoroughly and properly and take corrective actions as appropriate? That really is the question, and does it learn from that incident so as to try to prevent other similar incidents from occurring in the future.”
In a statement to The Denver Post, a public information officer for APD said “There’s always an opportunity for us to review our policies, procedures and best practices in law enforcement and we will continue to do that and make changes as needed.”
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