What should happen when a newly elected city councilman tasked with leading the council’s public safety committee — and therefore overseeing the Aurora Police Department — gets convicted of a DUI? 

On Tuesday, progressive Aurora City Councilman Rob Andrews pleaded guilty to one charge of driving under the influence 0.20+ BAC. 

That’s legal shorthand for more than three times the legal limit of 0.08% blood alcohol content. 

Andrews was sentenced to 10 days of home detention, 12 months of probation and 48 hours of community service, and his other traffic charges were dropped. 

Here’s the thing: Andrews wasn’t a longtime public servant who made one terrible mistake after years of otherwise exemplary conduct and laudable public service. When the incident happened in January, he had been in office for only a few weeks. 

This is how he introduced himself to constituents. 

For many Aurorans, his sentence seems particularly lenient — and calls for deeper personal accountability. 

After his arrest, Andrews knew he had to apologize immediately. 

“Accountability has to be more than words,” he posted, adding he was registering for classes, meeting with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and “taking proactive steps” not to do this again. 

But before the apology, before the MADD classes and before promising accountability, his first concern wasn’t public safety. It was whether the public would find out. 

“I am most concerned about the public not knowing about it,” he says in video footage of the arrest. 

He also showed his City Council ID before presenting his license, as if saying, “Go easy on me, I’m basically your boss.” 

Yet a month later, his attorneys’ first action was to shift the onus to the arresting officer, James Shupe.  Perhaps looking for an easy escape by way of a technicality, the lawyers challenged the cop’s credentials to administer a breathalyzer. It didn’t work. 

APD confirmed Shupe’s certification was active. But the public safety chair’s first instinct was to challenge it anyway, revealing a distrust of the very officers under his purview. 

Arrested Jan. 17, Andrews didn’t enter his guilty plea until June 2 — nearly six months later. 

Bodycam footage of Andrews’ breathalyzer test released in April indicated blood-alcohol content “quite a bit higher” than the legal limit. 

Ultimately, of his four original charges — DUI, driving with excessive alcohol content, changing lanes when unsafe (weaving) and making a left turn from the wrong lane — only the DUI stuck. 

According to Colorado State Patrol, a DUI conviction adds 12 points to a license, triggering an automatic suspension — likely nine months for a first offense. 

We aren’t talking about a councilman who had a glass of wine too many at an official function. We aren’t talking about someone who was slightly tipsy enough to fail a breath test after, say, too little dinner with his beer. We’re talking about three times the legal limit. 

When state Sen. Faith Winter died in an automobile crash last November, she was driving at twice the legal limit. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office found her at fault, and one other person was also injured. 

At three times the legal limit, there’s no “I misjudged it.” There’s only the decision you made first — the only one that matters. 

Andrews could have been Winter. The fact that nobody was hurt is a blessing. 

It’s also the only meaningful difference. And it doesn’t change the fact that he was caught endangering public safety. 

A former prosecutor told me Andrews’ legal timeline and punishment aren’t necessarily out of the ordinary. Still, I’ll forgive Aurora residents for thinking it reeks of special treatment. 

Doubly so given that Andrews voted with the progressive majority to muzzle APD’s social media — barring staff from posting booking photos or naming suspects, with limited exceptions, and from issuing social media comments or publishing press releases without city manager approval. 

Andrews is the public safety chairman who voted to restrict the flow of public safety information after his own DUI arrest became public. 

Why is the public safety chair still the public safety chair? 

Let’s be serious: Rob Andrews didn’t commit a technical violation. He drove drunk, more than three times the legal limit, weeks after taking office — and then flashed his badge to the cop and worried aloud that the public might find out. 

Andrews has no business overseeing public safety. He’s forfeited that responsibility and must step down or be removed. 

Forgiveness and making amends are cornerstones of our moral ethos. But they don’t entitle you to remain in positions of power — especially when your “mistake” puts others at risk. 

Andrews is fortunate no one was hurt by his reckless drunk driving. 

There’s a difference between being accountable to the law and being accountable to the people. Pleading guilty formally satisfies the first. Flashing your official ID and going after the arresting officer’s credentials fails the second. 

What makes this story especially damning isn’t just the DUI. It’s the cavalier attitude toward personal power that followed it — one that’s unbecoming of any elected official, let alone a rookie barely on the job. 

Frankly, leaving the public safety committee isn’t enough. Rob Andrews ought to resign his seat and let someone serious take it. 

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.