The city of Aurora will continue its search for a new police chief following a months-long recruitment process, and after city management, city council members, and community and business leaders met with two finalists during a three-day selection process.
“I greatly appreciate the time the finalists spent with our community,” said Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly. “Over the last week, I listened to a lot of feedback from community members and City Council members who want us to continue the search for a variety of reasons, and I support that. We all – city management, the City Council and the community – want the best person for the job who will address crime in Aurora and lead the Aurora Police Department to be racially equitable, bias-free, culturally competent and responsive to all residents.”
Aurora’s city charter requires the city manager to hire a police chief and receive approval from the majority of the Aurora City Council.
The finalists were Scott Ebner, a retired lieutenant colonel and Deputy Superintendent of Administration for New Jersey State Police, and David Franklin, the chief of staff at the Albuquerque Police Department in Albuquerque, N.M. Franklin withdrew his application following the three-day final selection process.
The city received a total of 21 applications during the two months the police chief position was posted. Two of the applicants withdrew early in the process. The initial pool included seven applicants who were women or people of color – 33 percent of the applicant pool – two of whom were selected for semi-finalist interviews.
“Moving forward, we will be assessing the process and determining next steps as we continue the search,” Twombly said. “People across our community may have differing preferences of who they want to lead the Aurora Police Department, but we will make sure that whoever is chosen will be held to serving every member of our community equitably.”