To a standing ovation by the Aurora City Council and those in attendance at Tuesday night’s council meeting, Matt Thomas was officially confirmed as the next chief of the Aurora Police Department.
The appointment was made by outgoing Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and confirmed with a unanimous vote by the Aurora City Council, although Ald. Ron Woerman, at large, was not in attendance.
Thomas is the current Aurora Police Department deputy chief and is set to start in his new position on or around May 30.
Thomas will take over for current Police Chief Keith Cross, who is retiring. Cross was appointed as Aurora’s police chief in July 2021 after former Police Chief Kristen Ziman announced her retirement, and before that he was Ziman’s deputy chief.
At the same time, Thomas was promoted from commander to deputy chief of the Aurora Police Department through an appointment by the Aurora City Council.
According to his resume, Thomas has over 27 years of policing experience. He has held various jobs in his career, including patrol officer and investigator, Investigative sergeant, Patrol Services lieutenant and Administrative Services commander, among many others.
Taking Thomas’ place as Aurora Police Department’s next deputy chief is Aurora Police Cmdr. Steven Stemmet, who was also appointed by Irvin and approved alongside Thomas at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Stemmet’s resume shows that he previously served in the U.S. Army from 1990–1997 and in the Montgomery Police Department from 1996–1999 before joining the Aurora Police Department in 1999.
Stemmet is also expected to start in his new role on or around May 30.
Incoming mayor and current Ald. John Laesch, at large, said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that he interviewed several Aurora police officers and labor representatives and found “unanimous support” for both Thomas and Stemmet. Laesch also met with Thomas for around five hours over several meetings, he said, and is looking forward to working with both him and Stemmet.
Former Aurora Mayor David Pierce, who is on Laesch’s recently announced transition team, previously told The Beacon-News that Irvin is seemingly breaking a “long-standing practice” in Aurora government that outgoing mayors refrain from making appointments between an election and the next mayor’s inauguration. Laesch is expected to be sworn in on May 13 alongside three new Aurora City Council members and the incumbents who were re-elected.
However, Laesch said in a Facebook post before the City Council meeting Tuesday that, despite concerns from some members of the Aurora City Council and of Laesch’s own transition team that the process of appointing a new chief of police was happening during the transition of mayors, he’s confident that Matt Thomas is the best person for the job after going through a thorough review of the appointment.
Once in office, Laesch will be working with Thomas to create a pre-arrest diversion program in Aurora and to bring the city’s 911 Call Center up to adequate staffing levels, according to Laesch’s Facebook post.
