Aurora Pride Parade canceled over not enough officers available to work the event

AURORA, Ill. - The Aurora Pride Parade has been canceled due to a lack of police officers willing to work the event and ensure the safety of participants.

The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by the city of Aurora. This comes after parade organizers told the Aurora Police Department last month that uniformed officers wouldn't be allowed to march in the parade.

"We really couldn’t in good faith say this event could go on without the required law enforcement number being there at the event to provide security," said Paris Lewbel, spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department.

Organizers of the privately-run event had been working with APD to come up with a safety plan. However, Lewebel says the department couldn't make officers work it.

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"We can’t force them or require them to work a special event or any overtime event for that matter – it’s really on a voluntary basis," said Lewbel. "When it comes to this event, specifically, it's not different than any other event that we’ve had where we are just having issues filling that many positions."

Lewbel says once they realized staffing would be short, they encouraged Aurora Pride to ask other agencies for help.

"We got a report back from them [Monday] that they weren’t able to fill those positions," said Lewbel.

The Aurora Pride Parade made headlines in May when they announced police officers could not march in the parade "in uniform" and would have to leave their service weapons and patrol cars at home.

In response to the security struggles, Aurora Pride had released a statement: "We are concerned and disappointed, and we are investigating all options available to us."

Because of the uniform controversy, APD and others including Aurora mayor and gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin had said they would not participate in the parade, which was set to happen Sunday at noon.

The city of Aurora released the following statement:

"Based on the inability of the Aurora Pride board to retain the number of law enforcement officers required to ensure the public health and welfare of participants and spectators the Aurora Pride Parade (70% of which were already provided by the Aurora Police Department), and on the recommendation from the Aurora Police Department that the parade cannot be held without satisfying these safety requirements, the City of Aurora has issued a Notice of Revocation to Aurora Pride.

The revocation of the Special Event Permit, which authorized Aurora Pride to conduct the parade, prohibits the parade from taking place as scheduled.

As part of the due process provided by the City Code, Aurora Pride has filed an appeal in anticipation of this decision. The appeal hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, June 9, 2022.

Any further statements from the City of Aurora will be provided following the decision of the appeal hearing."