Aurora’s Top Officials Still Trying to “Reestablish Trust” Four Years After Elijah McClain’s Death

The City of Aurora brought together the heads of its police and fire departments and city manager’s office last week to talk to the public for the first time about the city’s efforts to “re-establish trust” and legitimacy following the August 2019 death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain.

The community meeting took place at the Aurora City Council chambers on May 2 and focused primarily on an April 2023 report that covered law enforcement’s handling of the McClain incident, during which the 23-year-old Black man was forcibly restrained by police and injected with a lethal dose of ketamine by paramedics — resulting in manslaughter and negligent homicide charges for those involved.

The April report follows up on a consent decree and a fourteen-month investigation that detailed how the…