The City of Aurora announced Todd Chamberlain as its new chief of police late last month after a two-year period without a permanent chief.

Prior to coming to Aurora, Chamberlain held positions in law enforcement at the Los Angeles Police Department for 34 years and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He joins the department in the midst of several big challenges, as it emerges from years of scrutiny following the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain and national — and international attention — on the activities of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) at some city apartment buildings.

The Aurora Police Department has had a hard time keeping a top cop in the role since former Chief Nick Metz — who was chief when McClain, walking home from a convenience store, was killed following interactions with three officers and two paramedics who injected a lethal dose of ketamine — left the role in 2020.

Vanessa Wilson was named interim, then permanent chief, in 2020. She was fired in April of 2022, when Daniel Oates took over as interim. Former Houston Police’s Art Acevedo took over as interim chief in November of 2022 and he resigned in January. Heather Morris then took the interim role until the city found a permanent chief. Morris announced in July that she was not pursuing the permanent position.

The Denver Gazette sat down with Chamberlain Tuesday to talk about his plans for the department.

Denver Gazette: What makes you qualified for this role?

Chamberlain: I have 35 years of law enforcement experience and I think the similarities of what I’ve experienced in the other departments I’ve worked fit seamlessly into the city of Aurora. When you look at a lot of the issues that are unfolding right now and the size of the city, when you look at demographics, when you look at crime, when you look at issues related to the internal operations of this organization — all of those things I have dealt with and all of those things I’m really looking forward to embracing and dealing with here.

DG: How does APD compare to the department you came from?

Chamberlain: It’s very similar. When you look at law enforcement across the nation, it’s very consistent. Specifically coming from Los Angeles, the diversity in Los Angeles is massive; it’s a very diverse place. And what I’ve found in my time here in Aurora is that Aurora is actually a little bit more diverse than even what Los Angeles is in terms of the number of nationalities. And it’s growing every day. In terms of the department itself, I think for the most part, all officers are trying their best to serve during some very challenging times, and I think that speaks to what’s going on in Aurora. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with some of the officers and command staff and I can tell you, for the most part, everything I’ve gotten so far is that they are totally committed to service. I think how they get there and how they do it is based a lot on what comes out of the chief’s office, making sure they have the proper direction, guidance, logistics, and that’s what I look forward to doing.

DG: What are the biggest challenges APD is facing right now and what are your plans to address them?

Chamberlain: I think the biggest challenge right now is kind of the elephant in the room, which is the TDA issue and the Venezuelan issue. I think that’s taken on national attention, so trying to bring clarity to that, as opposed to panic or the view of what people think they know. I think there are some complexities there that are very valid. I think this immigration population that has moved into Aurora over the past two or three years — basically you have a large city and you’ve almost immigrated the population of a small or mid-size city into that city, and there was really no support for it. There are opportunities to do better. This is not political talk, but I think at a federal level there are a lot of things that are really lacking. I think that at the federal level they say, “We facilitate getting into the country, but once they get in wherever they go and whatever they do is not our concern.” That’s very relevant to what we’re seeing right now. We’re not seeing any long-term sustainability for this immigrant population that moved into Aurora. I think they feel hopeless, they feel lost and abandoned. I think with that desperation is going to come things that are not positive. I had the opportunity to walk through some of the complexes that were detailed and I can tell you that the living conditions are terrible. I think they feel like they have no support from anybody. At a law enforcement component, we are there strictly to make sure that they are not victimized and to control crime. I hope there’s some collaboration at federal, state and local levels. These issues are starting to bubble up because of mismanagement before, and I hope they’re corrected and addressed. Law enforcement is already struggling with staffing issues. We’re struggling with homelessness, which was large even before this event. We’re dealing with substance abuse issues, with mental health issues. We’ve taken on a lot of social service aspects and it’s just put more stress on these agencies, including in Aurora. Our goal is to ensure that we are there to support this community.

This is not about documented or undocumented. I don’t care about that. I care if somebody is violating somebody. I care if someone is mistreating somebody, if someone is victimizing somebody. We are going to hold them accountable, no matter if they are documented or undocumented. I don’t care. On the same token, I hope people who are undocumented don’t use that as a reason not to contact us and let us know what’s occurring, how it’s occurring, and why it’s occurring, because I want to stop victimization at any level, in any place.

DG: There has been a lot of turnover in your position. What are your thoughts on this challenge and how long do you plan to stay?

Chamberlain: I think that’s a challenge in law enforcement across the board. Most chiefs usually come in and stay two to five years and then go on or retire. I think there’s been a number of interim chiefs, which has kind of slowed down the actual hiring process for a permanent chief. I have the opportunity to step in as a permanent chief and really look at this as trying to get us some stability. The first thing I said to people here is that my main goal is to look at a succession plan for this organization, so that whatever happens next, there’s always going to be somebody who can carry on that responsibility. As far as tenure or time, it’s going to be as long as is conducive for the city, for this department, and as long as I can mentally and physically do the job.

DG: Aurora has entered the “monitoring” phase of the consent decree. What do you think about the department’s progress? Is it enough?

Chamberlain: I’m very excited to be stepping in at this time in the process. I’ve been through consent decrees before, so I understand the dynamics of them. It’s important that we check off the boxes that have been identified as having problems with on race-based issues, racial bias, use of force, community engagement and things. But I also think it’s more important not to just check boxes and say, “Okay, we got out of it.” It’s important to have longevity, to say, “We’re never going to fall back into this.” Those are the things that I hope are sustainable for the long term and that’s what I’m striving for.

DG: What are your thoughts on entering this office while it’s under so much scrutiny following the consent decree, the death of Kilyn Lewis, the TDA gangs and other big events? How will you deal with that scrutiny and lead the department through it?

Chamberlain: I’m incredibly excited about it and incredibly hopeful. I’m a realistic optimist, so I know it’s going to be a challenge, and what’s going to be a challenge are the things we don’t even see yet. There’s going to be other things. There’s going to be other shootings, other uses of force, other internal issues, budget issues, staffing issues, and we haven’t even gotten to those yet. So, it’s not only important to focus on what we need to improve, but about being better prepared to address what we don’t know is coming down the road yet.

When I saw the commotion about Aurora, that wasn’t a hesitancy for me. This is where I want to be. This is where my skillset that I’ve honed over 35 years needs to go. I think I’m supposed to be here right now.

DG: When do you think the CIRT (Critical Incident Response Team) might have a decision in the Kilyn Lewis case?

Chamberlain: I don’t know right now. That’s something we’re still looking at. A lot of it involves the DA’s office. I’d like to get more specifics, but I just don’t have those.

DG: Have you seen the body camera footage?

Chamberlain: I have not.

DG: How do you think APD has handled the TDA gangs? How do you think it could be handled better?

Chamberlain: I think that’s a big part of what we had to modify over the two weeks that I’ve been here is to not let the hysteria dictate how we police that community. We are going to focus on the individuals causing the problem, and we have. We’ve already identified two or three, who are in custody right now, and we’ve identified the others. I think the other problem we might have gotten a little too deep in was the over-policing of that community. That’s where we have to be a little bit more cautious. We have to do a better job as far as outreach to that community, so they feel safe in contacting us and letting us know if they are being victimized. We could go into that community and stop everybody, write citations, write parking tickets, do all kinds of stuff, and we will get crime down, but the community will also hate us and distrust us. So, that’s the balance where I want to do the effective amount of policing, but the effective amount of intervention and prevention.

DG: Is there any tension between APD and Aurora City Council?

Chamberlain: I don’t feel that right now. I’m still in the honeymoon phase, I would imagine, but I hope it stays consistent. I talked to all of them and went through an interview process with all of them and one thing I noticed is that even though they are all very different as far as ideologies and philosophies, the one thing they have a consistent approach to is the safety of the city and the responsibility to the people that they serve. That’s something I noticed about each and every one of them. It was about service to others. It’s my job to take the issues they are fighting for and think are important, and make sure we are not overreacting or underreacting, but are reacting based on a clear and defined mission based on data and information.