An Aurora Police Department officer who was demoted for driving drunk on the job, but never fired, has now been promoted — prompting some city leadership to call for changes to the promotional process for police officers.

Officer Nate Meier was discovered drunk and passed out behind the wheel of his police department vehicle while on duty in 2019. More than three years later, Meier has been promoted to the role of detective, as first reported by CBS News Colorado.

He was earning $100,000 as an officer and now makes $110,000 as a detective, a city spokesman said. Meier declined an interview request.

The revelations have stoked ire among city leadership who wanted Meier fired — among them Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, who vowed to take action during a Thursday morning public safety committee meeting.

“It’s very unfortunate that Nate Meier is still an officer with the Aurora Police Department,” Jurinsky said.

The councilmember disapproved of how the incident was handled back in 2019 and said the right thing for Meier to do is turn down the promotion.

“This is unfortunate, that Nate Meier continues to hold a black eye over this department, and continues to bring shame, but the rules are the rules,” she said.

City leadership will seek to change hiring rules so that promotions like Meier’s can be stopped in the future, Jurinsky said. Current rules “protect this sort of bad behavior, criminal behavior, in the department,” she said.

City attorney Pete Schulte told committee members that the city and commission’s hands are tied.

Meier was not terminated when the incident occurred in 2019 or charged with a DUI. He was demoted from agent to officer, Schulte said.

Civil Service Commission rules state that at least two years must pass from the time an officer receives a disciplinary order, but after that they can seek to become an agent. That process requires they take an exam, Schulte said.

“If you take the test and you perform well, which Agent Meier did, he was third on the list, our charter is very clear,” Schulte said.

The commission sends the police department a certified list of officers who passed the exam, ranking them by their test scores, and then officers from that list are promoted in that order.

“This came up in December with the chief’s office, when they asked for legal advice from us because of the issues that had surrounded Nate Meier,” Schulte said.

The city attorney said “there is nothing that we can do” to prevent Meier from receiving the promotion after passing the tests.

Other states have different rules that do allow officials to deny a promotion, he said. One process is called the “chief bypass.” Under those rules, the chief could skip a person on the certified list of officers up for promotions if the chief had sufficient reason, Schulte said.

Another option is called the “rule of three,” he said. The command staff and chief would take the first three officers on the certified list, pick two to promote and one to deny a promotion, then move on to the next three officers.

Those rule changes would require changing the city charter, he said.

“The city didn’t make any mistakes and the civil service commission didn’t make any mistakes,” he said.

Interim Chief of Police Art Acevedo was not available for an interview, a department spokesman said, who provided a statement from Acevedo echoing Schulte’s comments saying APD could not stop the promotion.

Acevedo met with Meier, “spoke frankly” about his past behavior and about the chief’s future expectations, the statement said.

“To his credit, the employee has taken extensive steps to turn his life around since the DUI incident occurred over three years ago. He has indicated that the experience saved his life. Our department has a robust employee support and wellness program; however, our members now know that alcohol-related offenses will result in termination,” Acevedo said.

Aurora Police has not made any rule or policy changes regarding terminating an officer for alcohol-related offenses, spokesman Joe Moylan said in an email when asked for clarity about Acevedo’s statement. Rather the department has made it “crystal clear” that such behavior won’t be tolerated, he said.

“In other words, if you’re arrested for DUI or are intoxicated on the job, you will lose your job with APD,” Moylan said.

An Aurora Police Department officer who was demoted for driving drunk on the job, but never fired, has now been promoted — prompting some city leadership to call for changes to the promotional process for police officers.

Officer Nate Meier was discovered drunk and passed out behind the wheel of his police department vehicle while on duty in 2019. More than three years later, Meier has been promoted to the role of detective, as first reported by CBS News Colorado.

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He was earning $100,000 as an officer and now makes $110,000 as a detective, a city spokesman said. Meier declined an interview request.

The revelations have stoked ire among city leadership who wanted Meier fired — among them Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, who vowed to take action during a Thursday morning public safety committee meeting.

“It’s very unfortunate that Nate Meier is still an officer with the Aurora Police Department,” Jurinsky said.

The councilmember disapproved of how the incident was handled back in 2019 and said the right thing for Meier to do is turn down the promotion.

“This is unfortunate, that Nate Meier continues to hold a black eye over this department, and continues to bring shame, but the rules are the rules,” she said.

City leadership will seek to change hiring rules so that promotions like Meier’s can be stopped in the future, Jurinsky said. Current rules “protect this sort of bad behavior, criminal behavior, in the department,” she said.

City attorney Pete Schulte told committee members that the city and commission’s hands are tied.

Meier was not terminated when the incident occurred in 2019 or charged with a DUI. He was demoted from agent to officer, Schulte said.

Civil Service Commission rules state that at least two years must pass from the time an officer receives a disciplinary order, but after that they can seek to become an agent. That process requires they take an exam, Schulte said.

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“If you take the test and you perform well, which Agent Meier did, he was third on the list, our charter is very clear,” Schulte said.

The commission sends the police department a certified list of officers who passed the exam, ranking them by their test scores, and then officers from that list are promoted in that order.

“This came up in December with the chief’s office, when they asked for legal advice from us because of the issues that had surrounded Nate Meier,” Schulte said.

The city attorney said “there is nothing that we can do” to prevent Meier from receiving the promotion after passing the tests.

Other states have different rules that do allow officials to deny a promotion, he said. One process is called the “chief bypass.” Under those rules, the chief could skip a person on the certified list of officers up for promotions if the chief had sufficient reason, Schulte said.

Another option is called the “rule of three,” he said. The command staff and chief would take the first three officers on the certified list, pick two to promote and one to deny a promotion, then move on to the next three officers.

Those rule changes would require changing the city charter, he said.

“The city didn’t make any mistakes and the civil service commission didn’t make any mistakes,” he said.

Interim Chief of Police Art Acevedo was not available for an interview, a department spokesman said, who provided a statement from Acevedo echoing Schulte’s comments saying APD could not stop the promotion.

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Acevedo met with Meier, “spoke frankly” about his past behavior and about the chief’s future expectations, the statement said.

“To his credit, the employee has taken extensive steps to turn his life around since the DUI incident occurred over three years ago. He has indicated that the experience saved his life. Our department has a robust employee support and wellness program; however, our members now know that alcohol-related offenses will result in termination,” Acevedo said.

Aurora Police has not made any rule or policy changes regarding terminating an officer for alcohol-related offenses, spokesman Joe Moylan said in an email when asked for clarity about Acevedo’s statement. Rather the department has made it “crystal clear” that such behavior won’t be tolerated, he said.

“In other words, if you’re arrested for DUI or are intoxicated on the job, you will lose your job with APD,” Moylan said.