Welcome back Police Chief Nicholas Metz from the Aurora Police Department!  He is always a great presence and provides us with so much information!  Metz is the 13th Chief of Police for the City of Aurora and has held this position for just over a year.  He came to us from Seattle.

 

Nicholas shared that there have been lots of changes across the country as a result of all that has been happening in our country the last few years.  Nicholas is an optimist and feels that his officers truly care about this community.  The APD has a very high reputation across the country as a result of the Aurora theater shooting but more importantly for their non traditional methods for community engagement.  They truly believe that credibility and transparency help add to the safety of us all.  The 3 pillars that Nicholas guides his team on are Fighting Crime, Reducing the fear of Crime and building trust within in the community.  They are addressing these pillars through Crisis Intervention training, use of force training, transparency and continuous quality review and improvement.

 

Every encounter with the community is seen as an opportunity.  Nicholas gave a couple of recent examples of incredible acts by the APD.  Awhile back, there was a call for a family disturbance between a 15 year old boy and his mother.  This was a single family home and he had punched a hole in the wall of their apartment.  With all the options open to them, the officers responding took time with the youth to do some problem solving.  The next day, on their own time, these same officers showed up at this home with the materials needed to repair the wall.  They did not do the repairs alone, they had the youth participate in the repairs.  He got to learn some new skills, have a positive experience with the police and is now one of the Explorer Scouts with the APD.

 

Another story - Girl Scouts selling cookies at a local King Soopers.  A guy grabbed their box with all their proceeds for the day and took off.  A message went out city wide for officers to come by and buy cookies,  These girls had a line of police cars in a very short time waiting their turn to buy cookies.  This crew of Girl Scouts will never forget the good feelings these police officers provided on this day that could have gone a whole other direction.

 

And then there was the basketball camp hosted over the summer.  There were 20 officers that gave their own time to host a 1 week basketball camp that served 230 youth.  What a positive impact!

 

Another fun story, APD was invited to play what they thought was a scrimmage with the Gateway Boys Varsity BB.  They arrived to find that tickets were being sold and there was other entertainment!  They had a great evening even though they did lose the game by 15 points.  They have been invited by other area high schools to do the same!

 

Nicholas shared that he is in the process of starting a Citizens Advisory Committee who will work directly with him and will be very hands on.  He hopes to have this committee up and running in early 2017.

 

The APD has been involved with youth creating a publication known at this time as the 'Empowering Book'.  It has been written by a group of youth giving direction and advice on how to handle encounters with police officers in different situations.  The message is that you may not like what's happening to you, but look at this as an opportunity.  They already have requests by some schools to use this in their Civics classes. 

 

Increased safety for APD?  Yes!  They already wear bullet proof vests, which are not effective in some situations were higher powered guns are being used.  The APD is in the process of securing rifle plated vests for all officers.  These will be carried with them at all times and put on when they feel the situation calls for this additional level of protection. 

 

Police work is a calling.  APD has recruitment as a top priority.  They have recruited from all around the country, but would like to see more local people step into this job, people that really know the City of Aurora.  APD is the 2nd largest police force in the state with 696 sworn officers and 200 civilian employees.  Last time Nicholas joined us, they were building a new training facility and this is now open!  We've been invited to tour this facility for an offsite meeting.  That should be a great tour!

 

Thank you Bruce for bring Nicholas back.  Great things are happening in Aurora!

For those of you unable to join us on October 17th for the offsite tour of DAVA, you missed out!  What an inspirational organization and something we need more of!  DAVA is the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts center.  They have recently undergone some renovations and the facility is now larger and more capable of serving more of Aurora's youth and families.  DAVA also takes full advantage of our RYLA program.  We have 4 RYLA graduates greet us and speak with us both about their experiences with RYLA and their roles with DAVA.  In addition to encouraging creativity and personal expression, DAVA really works with youth to develop the skills they'll need in the future such as personal responsibility, community impact, commitment, attendance and being on time.  DAVA does a couple of gallery shows every year.  The current gallery theme is transportation.  They also will be doing a holiday show and boutique - you'll definitely want to include DAVA in your holiday shopping!  DAVA has been selected to decorate the Christmas Tree at the White House.  Each group was working hard at getting their ornaments ready for their journey to Washington DC.  Each group was taking on a different theme that represents Colorado.  Should be a pretty spectacular tree!

 

 

DAVA is funded through the Special Arts District funding and grants.  The program is free to students, but they do have to go through an application process to be accepted.  The sky is the limit with creativity!  Kids have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of mediums from computer graphics to robotics to plastics to recyclables to fiber to pen and ink.  We had a great time exploring the various rooms and seeing examples of all the different projects completed and in progress.  Within the transportation show in the primary gallery, DAVA students had built 2 types of shelters that could be used by someone who is homeless.  They put much effort into finding materials that were light weight and could be moved easily, but were also heat tolerant and a protection from weather.  One even included 'mood' lighting!  This was a great event and I'm sure we all look forward to great things coming from DAVA and great things for youth that get to be a part of this organization.

 

771:  It is said that Charlemagne became the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman.  The next year, he launched a 30-year military campaign to bring order to Europe, which encompassed what is now France, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and parts of what is now Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain.

1933:  The 21st amendment to the US Constitution is ratified bringing an end to Prohibition!

1945:  Flight 19, now known as The Lost Squadron, disappears hours after take off from Fr. Lauderdale Naval Air Station.  The flight consisted of 5 Navy Avengers and 14 airmen.  The remains of the aircraft and airmen were never found which helped create the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.

1978:  What free agent signed a 4 year, $32 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Phillies becoming the highest paid baseball player?  Pete Rose!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocky Mountain Youth Exchange is looking for host families.  If you are interested in opening your heart and your home to an exchange student for a few months, please see Denny.

 

GOOD NEWS and THANK YOU to Susan Aubin who has worked diligently to get our website up and running again!

 

 

 

The Smoky Hill Duty Roster: