Aurora police redraw district boundaries to improve response times amid rapid growth in the Colorado city

Aurora police will roll out major changes to their district boundaries next month to better balance staffing, improve response times and keep pace with the city's rapid expansion.

Under the updated layout, the department's three districts will now run east to west across Aurora. District 1 will cover the north, District 2 is the central area, and District 3 to the south. Two major roads will serve as dividing lines: East 6th Avenue separates the North and Central districts, while East Jewell Avenue divides Central from South.

APD says the changes are driven by population growth and a shifting call for service patterns, particularly in eastern Aurora, which is seeing significant development. By realigning district borders, the department aims to evenly distribute workloads and assign officers more strategically.

"We looked at years of data -- calls for service, response times, crime trends -- and realigned the districts so officers are spread out more evenly," Sgt. Matthew Longshore said. "We want to make sure that the people out east aren't feeling left out."

Longshore said residents may notice some practical changes once the boundaries go into effect.

"Some residents might actually be in a new district come Feb. 14," he said. "Some that might have been in District One forever could actually now be in District Three. That just means that your (Police Area Representatives) officer might be different. Your district commander might be different."

Despite the shifts, Longshore emphasized that how residents contact police won't change. Officers will continue responding the same way, though they may be arriving from a different district than before.

"The same way you call for police services will exactly do the same, whether it's 911, whether you're calling the non-emergency line, that's not changing," he said. "The police are still going to show up."

Longshore noted that the changes are also intended to boost officer presence across neighborhoods and further reduce priority call response times, which APD says have already improved under recent policy shifts.

While the city has long discussed the possibility of adding a fourth police district, Longshore acknowledged that staffing needs and funding requirements make that a longer term project.

"This is our temporary solution to be able to spread those officers out, increase our visibility in those eastern and northern parts of Aurora, to respond to those areas that might not have seen police services as frequently as they probably would have liked," said Longshore.

The APD district realignment takes effect Feb. 14.