The Denver Gazette reports that Aurora City Council has approved changes to Aurora Police Department communication policies that restrict what police can release publicly, including suspect names and booking photos, until a conviction or guilty plea. Supporters say it protects due process. Critics say it handcuffs public safety, delays information, and puts another bureaucratic pillow over the face of transparency.
The resolution passed Monday over four “no” votes from conservative lawmakers. It also routes police communications through the city manager’s office, because apparently the people closest to public safety emergencies need a permission slip from City Hall before telling the public what is happening.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Aurora’s new policy bars police from posting mug shots and suspect names on social media or in press releases until a suspect is convicted or pleads guilty. That process can take months or years, which is government-speak for “check back after everyone forgot.”
- Supporters claim this is about due process and stopping “harmful editorializing.” Fine. Nobody needs police departments writing crime posts like late-night cable hosts. But fixing tone is not the same as gagging facts.
- Critics include Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain, the Aurora Police Association, the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s executive director. That is a pretty broad coalition of people saying, “Maybe do not blindfold the public during crime problems.”
- City officials say emergency exceptions will exist, including wanted suspects, additional victims, or imminent threats. Wonderful. Nothing says “swift public safety” like waiting for bureaucrats to decide whether danger is dangerous enough.
- The media concern is simple. If police do not release timely information, reporters and residents may not even know what records to request. Transparency by scavenger hunt is not transparency. It is hide-and-seek with a government salary.
My Bottom Line
People should be concerned about this. Very concerned. I seem to remember reading about this kind of tactic in an Orwell novel. Now it is playing out in real time in Aurora, complete with the tidy little language of “process,” “alignment,” and “communication policy.” That is how government makes bad ideas sound housebroken.
This is what happens when a council flips from a majority Republican posture to a majority Democrat posture. The priorities change. Less law and order. More suspicion toward law enforcement. Less urgency for public safety. More performance for the far-left activist base that thinks every police department is guilty until proven politically useful.
Nobody is saying suspects do not have rights. They do. Due process matters. But the public also has a right to know what is happening in its neighborhoods. Parents, business owners, reporters, and residents should not have to wait until a conviction years later to learn basic facts about serious crime. That is not compassion. That is a blackout curtain with a city logo on it.
Aurora deserves police leadership that can speak plainly and quickly when public safety is on the line. Instead, the city is choosing filters, delays, and political supervision. It is sad to watch this happen in real time, but it is not surprising. When the governing philosophy is more concerned with punishing cops than confronting criminals, the result is always the same. The public gets less information, criminals get more room, and City Hall congratulates itself for “reform.”
Source: Denver Gazette
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