AURORA, Colo. — Nathan Woodyard, the officer acquitted of all charges Monday in the death of Elijah McClain is now free to return to his job at Aurora Police.
Woodyard is also eligible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay he missed out on while he was suspended. He will also have earned a raise during his suspension, even though he hasn’t worked a single day in more than two years.
As soon as the not guilty verdict was read in court, Woodyard was eligible to return to his job as an Aurora Police officer.
He’ll be met with a lot of money if he puts his uniform back on.
When Woodyard was suspended in September of 2021, his salary was just under $85,000. Even though he hasn’t worked a single day since then, his union contract earned him a raise while he faced felony charges. He’ll make $100,000 a year now if he returns back to the police force.
He’ll also be entitled to backpay he missed out on during his suspension with a total of around $200,000.
"We are advocating and encouraging that the City of Aurora do not reinstate him as a police officer. As a matter of fact, we do not think he should be a police officer anywhere," said Omar Montgomery, president of the Aurora unit of the NAACP.
On Tuesday, 9NEWS asked the City of Aurora several times whether Woodyard is an officer at Aurora Police right now, if he’s still suspended, or if he’s left the department. For reasons unknown, Aurora says they can’t answer that right now. Regardless, the city charter clearly outlines Woodyard's ability to receive a significant amount of money if he returns to the department after his acquittal.
After Elijah McClain’s death, Aurora Police entered a consent decree to improve training and policies. Montgomery is the co-chair of the Community Advisory Council guiding the consent decree.
"I want to see the consent decree improve our public safety system in Aurora," Montgomery said. "What I don’t want to see is four young ladies on the ground on a hot summer day because of mistaken identity. I don’t want to see another situation like Elijah McClain, and I want transparency when we have another situation like Jordell Richardson."
A consent decree report released in October said Aurora Police still can’t identify officers with “sustained use of force violations” or “analyze use of force incidents.” The report called these problems at Aurora Police “extremely concerning.” While other parts of the report show the department making progress in areas like training and recruitment, Montgomery says Monday’s verdict is a reminder there’s still work to be done.
"I’m optimistic that once we get through with the consent decree, I am hoping that we have a public safety system that we can trust and that we all can stand behind," Montgomery said.
If it wasn’t for the protests in 2020 and Elijah’s mother Sheneen McClains advocating for change, there likely wouldn’t be a consent decree in Aurora. One of the changes the Community Advisory Council is pushing for is to hire an independent police monitor in Aurora. Other cities like Denver and Boulder have them, but Aurora does not. There’s hope that would help increase trust in the department.
"The vast majority of people in Aurora, when they’re pulled over they’re not greeted by an officer with a smile. They’re greeted with a gun. They’re greeted by an officer who has bias," said Maisha Fields, another member of the Community Advisory Council. "I want to see justice for everybody."
Fields says she was left speechless after the verdict on Monday. She hopes that a focus on community policing and building relationships with the area police officers serve will eventually lead to trust gained.
"I was devastated," Fields said. "Once again, we have said that black bodies don’t matter, and justice is not available even when it’s at the hands of the police."
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