Aurora City Council Tables Un-American “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” Measure

Aurora, CO fire fighters are grateful the City Council wisely postponed a decision that would have wrongfully changed the disciplinary appeals process for first responders.

Although pleased with the victory, fire fighters aren’t sitting still. They are continuing to educate members of the Aurora City Council and news media on why the initiative should not be brought up again.

The 11-member Aurora City Council backed off the proposal after hearing from concerned first responders on how they thought the appeals process would be harmed by the proposed measure.

Dan Pollet, vice president of Aurora Local 1290, told Denver Fox 31 that it’s important for fire fighters to have a level playing field. The proposed initiative would have caused Aurora members to operate under a theory of being “guilty until proven innocent” in cases brought up before the city’s Civil Service Commission. In every city in America, the burden of proof is on the city to prove disciplinary charges are appropriate.  The now tabled proposal would have shifted the burden to our members – forcing them to prove that discipline was inappropriate in civil cases.

Aurora Local 1290 also believed fire recruiting and retention would have negatively been affected because of the potential difficulty in defending the charges that could have been brought against members.

The Aurora City Council made a responsible decision to table the legislation because the proposal was un-American, over-reaching and unconstitutional.

Aurora members are looking to the future and working with members of the Aurora City Council on issues that will make the community safe.

You can see more news coverage of the issue here.

You can also read more on the issue on the IAFF’s Frontline Blog.