COFOIC: Aurora agrees to change policies on police IA records, faces new suit on body cam footage

Aurora has agreed to revise its policies on the disclosure of police internal affairs records as part of a lawsuit settlement, but a new court case alleges the city wrongly withheld body-worn camera footage related to a traffic accident involving Denver Police Chief Robert White.

The Denver Police Protective Association, which represents Denver officers, sued Aurora and its municipal records clerk last month in Arapahoe County District Court. The union claims the city’s “blanket policy” of providing body camera video only to people depicted in the footage “contravenes state law and is an abuse of discretion.”

In rejecting the union’s request for the footage, the lawsuit says, the city failed to conduct a balancing test of interests as required by the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA). Read more…