Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 244 BOCNEWS.com SEPTEMBER 2016 COMMUNITY Changing Policies to Meet City Needs Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz is determined to make sure his police department follows three basic principles- fighting crime, reducing the fear of crime and building community partnerships. From Baton Rouge La., Baltimore Md., Ferguson, Mo., Dallas TX to other cities across the country, police and minority residents in communities have clashed only to end in riots and tragedy. “One of our major efforts right now is expanding the way our officers engage with the community,” explained Chief Metz, who took over as the new police chief for the city of Aurora back in 2015. “A lot of what we are doing is having officers get- ting out of their patrol cars more, visiting schools, businesses, and walking the streets talking to folks.” The city of Aurora’s police department is also working on more teen outreach programs, besides the teen academy and citizen’s academy for adults. The teen academy focuses on youths between the ages of 13 to 18, where they get to spend two weeks in a classroom envi- ronment learning what officers do on patrol, how they train and how reports are written. Chief Metz said the police department is especially involved with the Aurora and Cherry Creek Public School Districts. Other things the police chief is working on is improving the department’s social media to be more engaging to the commu- nity. “We are the first depart- ment to have a Spanish speaking Twitter (page) because of the large Spanish speaking population in Aurora,” he said. “The best way to build relationships is through engagement,” added Chief Metz. “We don’t want to be just seen as the officer driving by in a patrol car, but want folks in the community to get to know the officers who work in their areas.” So far, Chief Metz is very pleases in regards to the progress his officers are making in that area of reaching out to people in the different neighbor- hoods. Chief Metz also commented on the positive relationship the police department has with the different churches in the city of Aurora. “We have been lucky in regards to a lot of African American churches in Aurora have been proactive in reach- ing out to the police depart- ment and asking us, what can we do to help,” he said as an increase in officers are attend- ing Sunday services at the dif- ferent churches. It’s more than revamping department policies accord- ing to Chief Metz. He said it’s about making the officers and department more accountable in a diverse (minority-majori- ty) city like Aurora. “We want people to see us in a different light. We are not just there to enforce the law. We do have officers in our department who truly care about the community.” To follow what’s going on with the Aurora Police Department you can log onto their Facebook and Twitter page. Chief Nick Metz We don’t want to be just seen as the officer driving by in a patrol car, but want folks in the community to get to know the officers who work in their areas.