Aurora Council to vote on new mobile response team after garden dispute

Aurora City Council members will vote on a proposed 2027 budget that includes funding for a fourth Aurora Mobile Response Team on November 9 and November 23. The addition of the team, which pairs mental health professionals with emergency medical technicians, costs approximately $243,000. The city is moving toward this expansion after a review of an August incident where a community garden was damaged while waiting for police.

The incident occurred on August 8 at the Denver Urban Gardens site near East 16th Avenue and Yosemite Street. Mathew King placed the initial 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. He reported that a man was being destructive, throwing rocks, and causing thousands of dollars in damage. Dispatchers told King that no officers were available to send at that time. The first police unit arrived around 4 p.m., more than three hours after the initial call.

During the wait, King made several follow-up calls. He reported seeing the man tear apart the garden and break cinder blocks. Dispatchers advised him to keep his distance, stating that property can be replaced but people cannot. The call remained classified as Priority 3 throughout the incident. This classification indicates a low threat to personal safety but requires a police response for issues like property crime or disturbances.

The city maintains the call was properly classified based on the information received. Aurora Police Department officials stated that the delay was primarily due to a high volume of higher-priority emergencies occurring simultaneously. Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on August 8, the city recorded 11 Priority 1 calls and 15 Priority 2 calls. Officers spent an average of 87 minutes and 44 seconds on scene during that period.

APD does not track response times for Priority 3 calls because they often involve non-urgent issues. However, Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs questioned whether crimes in progress should always be subject to response time tracking. She stated that the incident revealed a policy gap regarding how the city classifies active crimes.

Coombs asked the city manager about the cost of additional mobile response teams, which prompted the budget proposal. She believes another team could have assessed the garden situation and determined if clinicians could de-escalate the conflict. APD disagrees, stating that expanded behavioral health capacity would not have changed the outcome in this specific case because the situation involved potential safety concerns.

Two months after the incident, much of the physical damage at the garden has been repaired. King noted that Denver Urban Gardens secured funds for replacement equipment, including for damaged beehives. The man arrested in connection with the garden damage and other local crimes remains in the Adams County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a review hearing.

The fourth AMRT unit would expand current service, which operates seven days a week but not 24 hours a day. The team responds to qualifying nonviolent calls where police action is not required. Council members will decide on the final budget adoption in November, determining if the additional behavioral health resource becomes active in 2027.