Aurora mayor pushes renewed focus on fighting deadly gang violence

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is calling on residents who protested racial injustice and police brutality last year to now join the city's fight against the gang violence that led to the deaths of eight men in 2020.

"Now is when we need them to save our Black and brown young men," Irvin said at a Wednesday news conference, saying there has been an increase in gang-related crime. He said the protesters should have the same ire over those deaths.

"It wasn't APD (Aurora Police Department) who murdered those Black and brown young men. It was other Black and brown young men," Irvin said.

Police Chief Kristen Ziman said shootings were up 40% in 2020 compared to 2019. Meanwhile, there were 11 homicides in 2020.

Ziman took care to describe the deaths of eight men as "gang-related." The victims weren't necessarily members of gangs, but they may have been mistaken for a gang member or were killed when gang members were shooting at someone else, she said.

"Petty and immature differences between rival gangs," such as perceived disrespect, led to the killings, Ziman said.

Irvin, who is the chairman of the new State Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, started by reading the names of the victims, saying they were "murdered senselessly in the name of a gang war."

There were more murders in 2019 - 12 - but five of those happened during the mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Co.

Irvin announced the city will reorganize its neighborhood and community outreach programs, which he said hasn't recovered from cuts made during the recession in 2009. He said the city may have let its guard down a bit, "because times began to be good," including when the city had no murders in 2012.

Irvin said he wants roughly two dozen public and private youth mentoring programs in the city to work together in the Aurora Mentoring Alliance. The city is willing to publicize the programs and train people, he said.

The mayor has authorized the police department to see if additional technology, including a gunshot detection system such as ShotSpotter, would help. The detection system would alert police faster.

But he also pointed a finger at residents, telling them they have to do something, including providing information to police about crimes and volunteering to help at-risk youths. Ziman said tips from residents, including submissions of doorbell videos, have been helpful.

"We have a serious problem on our hands, and it's literally a matter of life and death," Irvin said.

Five aldermen were in the audience at the news conference.