Aurora Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky publicly demanded the resignation of Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Heather Morris and several police officers at the end of Monday night’s council meeting, citing incompetence but not providing specifics.

Naming officers Brian O’Dell, Tim Meehan, Seth Robertson, Investigations Division Chief Mark Hildebrand and Interim Police Chief Heather Morris, the councilmember said they “do not belong in this department.”

Jurinsky called on City Manager Jason Batchelor, who recently named Heather Morris as the interim chief after Art Acevedo left earlier this year, to take action against the five APD members.

“Until these five are no longer in this department, I’m not going to let this issue go,” Jurinsky said. “I’m only going to get louder.”

She accused Batchelor of ignoring her on the issue and said that if he continued to “try and ignore me on this, there’s someone waiting just around the corner to come out and come full speed.”

“You will not ignore this situation,” she told Batchelor. “You will deal with this situation.”

Jurinsky did not give a specific reason for her demands. She cited “incompetence” but not did not elaborate. She also called the five members she called to resign a “threat to this city.”

She complained about how the officers treated victims, but did not specify what she meant.

“Now, not only is it complaints about how criminals are being treated in this city, it is also victims — how we are treating victims,” Jurinsky said.

Addressed to the rest of the police department, the councilmember said she would “always, always stand with” the force, saying her demand is directly targeted toward the five named officers only. 

“There’s no reason to reach out to me, a press conference and a lawsuit is coming,” she told the media. 

Batchelor did not respond during the meeting.

A city spokesperson told The Denver Gazette Tuesday that the incident “might be related” to a domestic situation and ongoing investigation involving Jurinsky and the Aurora Police Department.

About three weeks ago, Jurinsky on social media said she was “involved in a domestic incident” and asked for privacy while she processes the situation. 

Jurinsky did not reply to a request for an interview with The Denver Gazette, but told The Denver Gazette’s news partner 9News more about the incident.

“I was the victim of a crime by somebody that I was seeing at the time,” Jurinsky told 9News. “I had cuts on my face. I had black eyes. I had, you know, welts. I looked like I had been assaulted.”

The person she referenced was charged with kidnapping, assault, obstruction and criminal mischief the night of the incident, she told 9News.

“Those four [officers] are the ones I had direct involvement with. The ones that were directly calling the shots on how this was handled,” Jurinsky said in her interview with 9News. “Body cam footage has already been reviewed as to how I was treated, as to how the officers were talking to me.”

“Interim Chief Heather R. Morris extends her deepest compassion and empathy to all crime victims,” the city spokesperson said in an email to The Denver Gazette. “It is the role of a police officer to pursue the justice and safety they deserve, and she appreciates officers’ work in this matter.”

Since the case is ongoing, “the relevant facts, context and court records remain sealed by the court,” the spokesperson said. 

This is not Jurinsky’s first tussle with Aurora police leadership.

In January 2023, Jurinsky was awarded a $3 million settlement after claiming in a lawsuit that false accusations of child abuse were leveled against her because she was critical of then-police chief Vanesa Wilson, according to Denver Gazette news partner 9News. 

Jurinsky filed the defamation lawsuit against Robin Niceta, a former Arapahoe County Department of Human Services (DHS) social worker who, she said, filed a false child abuse claim against her in what she believed to be retaliation for her critical comments about Wilson, the 9News article reported. Wilson and Niceta were in a relationship at the time.

Meanwhile, Wilson named Jurinsky as part of an effort to wrongfully terminate her. Wilson’s lawsuit accused Jurinsky and fellow councilmembers Steve Sundberg and Dustin Zvonek of seeking to stop her from pursuing reforms in the police department and pressuring then-City Manager Jim Twombly to fire her.

The letter sent by Wilson’s attorneys at King & Greisen, LLP alleged her firing was retaliation “for her commitment to enforcing the consent decree” and her goal to reform “the long-troubled police department, and end the racist policing practices that had unfortunately become the department’s hallmark.” 

“What I have learned in my time on council is that nobody seems to take notice until you become vocal,” Jurinsky told 9News.