Aurora Police Give Broad Update: Staffing Gains, Crime Drops and Expanded Youth and Crisis Programs

Aurora Police Department officials reported a net staffing increase, multi‑year reductions in violent and property crime, and continuing expansion of public‑safety programs including youth intervention, behavioral health response teams and enhanced outreach to people experiencing homelessness.

Chief and command staff said the department currently shows a net gain of 35 officers, with authorized staffing of 748 and a projection that the agency will be in a stronger staffing position by January if attrition rates remain near current levels. "Our current staffing is 700. We have a net gain right now of 35," a police commander said. Staff reported year‑to‑date attrition near 11% compared with 12.3% in 2024 and 14.1% in 2023.

Crime statistics presented to the committee showed decreases across multiple categories: staff reported a 21.4% drop in homicides, a 41.4% decline in fatal and nonfatal shootings, a 32.2% decrease in robbery and a 40.7% reduction in motor vehicle thefts, resulting in an overall 22.6% reduction in crime indicators tracked in the department’s PAC report.

The department described several operational initiatives under its public safety action plan:

- Youth violence prevention: Staff said grant‑funded community‑based partners are signed and operating; one juvenile‑only call‑in event hosted last week reached a limited number of high‑risk youths and included case management and probation involvement. "We've refined that — this is our fourth call in since starting the SAFE program about two years ago," a youth prevention staff member said.

- Behavioral health/crisis response: The department has expanded mobile crisis response units (AMRT and CRT), increasing to five CRT units and three AMRT teams; clinical services contracts (currently with UC Health) are being rebid, with staff expecting a proposal and a new agreement by year end.

- Homelessness and encampments: Staff reported substantially increased abatement and outreach activity, shifting more activity north in the city and keeping a day resource center open year‑round with roughly 100 nightly attendees. The Navigation Campus, due to open in about eight weeks, is expected to provide tiered services for up to about 550 people.

Officials described a new "hard team" dedicated to abatements and enforcement in encampment areas, providing targeted hours and arrests across districts; staff said the team has changed local dynamics and is coordinating with outreach to transport people into services during abatements where appropriate.

The committee asked about timing of future academies and when authorized staffing levels might be reached; staff said another academy cohort began recently and the next is expected roughly three months later, with lateral hires also joining the field soon. No new funding requests or ordinance changes were introduced during the presentation.