AURORA – A Colorado city established a task force to consider police and community interactions and removed a prospective representative from a police labor union from the panel.
Aurora City Council appointed 13 members to the group Monday, The Sentinel reports.
The task force in Aurora, Colorado’s third largest city, is expected to meet during the next six months and deliver recommendations to the council in January.
Marc Sears, an Aurora police officer and president of the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter, was set to represent the union on the task force.
City council member Nicole Johnston, who initiated the task force, said she asked the labor organization to replace Sears as the group’s representative.
Sears was reinstated to the Aurora Police Department by the city’s civil service commission in 2011 after being fired for two DUI arrests.
Council members debated whether the union should have a representative on the task force, with three members voting against removing the union.
The council chose to add a nonvoting member to the task force. The position is expected to be filled by Police Area Representative Officer Virgil Majors, who is a member of the Aurora Police Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
