Why Aurora's Cops Are Playing Social Worker — And Why That's a Problem
Todd Chamberlain didn't mince words: "Law enforcement has become kind of a catch-all for every system that has failed, whether that's homelessness or mental health, and that's not working."
He's right. And here in Aurora, we're living it.
Drive down Colfax near Havana. Park near the Anschutz campus. You'll see the same cycle: APD officers responding to welfare checks on unhoused neighbors camping near the RTD station. Calls for "suspicious persons" that are really mental health crises. The same addresses. The same faces. The same frustrating outcomes for everyone involved.
Aurora's tried. The co-responder program pairs clinicians with officers — solid concept, but they're stretched thin covering 160 square miles. The Aurora Mobile Response Team helps, but they can't be everywhere. And when 911 rings at 2 a.m. because someone's screaming at traffic lights on East 6th? A patrol car shows up. Not a therapist. Not a housing navigator. A cop with a badge and a gun.
Chamberlain, a former undersheriff who now consults nationally on policing reform, argues the fix isn't better police training. It's functioning upstream systems: affordable housing that doesn't have a three-year waitlist. Crisis centers that don't discharge people to the street. Substance treatment that takes Medicaid today.
Aurora City Council's 2025 budget debate will test whether we're serious. Current funding keeps the band-aids on. Real change means uncomfortable line items: permanent supportive housing vouchers. 24/7 crisis stabilization. A non-police 911 alternative that actually dispatches.
Until then, Officer Martinez still hands out socks and sandwiches on her beat near Fitzsimons. She'll tell you herself: "I didn't sign up for this. But somebody has to show up."
We can do better than making cops the default. Aurora deserves systems that work before the badge arrives.
