Aurora police task force member says ‘whole department needs to be overhauled’

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A member of Aurora’s community task force on police responded to the arrests of two officers in an on-duty assault, saying the department should be stripped to its core.

Jason McBride is a violence prevention specialist with the Struggle of Love Foundation and also serves on the Aurora Community Police Task Force. McBride watched Police Chief Vanessa Wilson’s press conference on the officers’ arrests and saw video that showed an officer strangling and pistol-whipping a man.

“You have a lot of officers in that force who still think they can do these kind of things,” McBride said.

McBride said he thinks the department needs to be completely reworked — a purge that could take years, as the department is already experiencing a staff shortage.

“There’s a certain culture that has permeated the Aurora Police Department,” McBride said.

“That whole department needs to be overhauled,” he said.

The police chief has called the man who suffered the assault, Kyle Vinson, a victim.

Vinson has retained the law firms of Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC and the Law Office of Charles A. Nicholas, P.C., according to a joint press release the firms sent Tuesday night.

“The harrowing body camera footage of Officers Francine Martinez and John Haubert’s vicious, unprovoked assault illuminates the ongoing issue of police violence, particularly against communities of color,” the lawyers said in a statement. “Mr. Vinson recognizes that many are unable to walk away from police violence and he is grateful that he survived the attack. Mr. Vinson appreciates the support he has received from the community.”

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