On newly released body camera footage, an Aurora police officer describes a colleague, who is passed out drunk at the wheel of his unmarked car in the middle of a road, as “a little intoxicated.”

Officer Nathan Meier was never investigated for driving under the influence even though fellow officers reported that they smelled alcohol and talked about possible intoxication at the scene. He was demoted after an internal investigation.

Body camera videos obtained Monday through a records request by The Denver Post showed several officers and fire personnel attempting to talk to Meier, while he sat in the driver’s seat of his stationary car in the middle of a busy Aurora road.

One officer, Eugene VanDyk, can be heard commenting on Meier’s apparent intoxication in his body camera footage. Other officers noted in their written reports that they smelled alcohol on Meier and in the car.

But police never completed a DUI investigation into Meier’s actions and Aurora police Chief Nick Metz in an email to his staff defended his decision to allow Meier to stay on the force and explained in part how he came to his decision.

“I’m guessing many of you would agree with me that the inaccurate media spin this past week has been frustrating,” Metz wrote to begin his email, which was released by Aurora officials. “I don’t want this to become a distraction from a message I want all of you to hear loud and clear, which is this: If you make a mistake, OWN YOUR S**T…”

Metz said that Meier admitted responsibility in the incident, which played into the chief’s disciplinary decision.

“I want you to know I unequivocally stand by my decision regarding the involved officer because I care about the human being who stepped up and owned his incredibly poor decision … and continues to courageously own it,” Metz wrote in the email, which was first reported by 9News.

Metz, through a spokeswoman, on Monday declined an interview with The Denver Post about the email and his decision.

“He’s declining all interview requests,” spokeswoman Officer Crystal McCoy said Monday.

The chief throughout the email wrote about how the nature of the job can cause serious negative impact on officers’ mental health, including leading to substance abuse and suicide.

“Finding the balance between discipline and support is critically important … why?” Metz wrote. “Because I know cops are human beings. You are not perfect. You are exposed to higher levels of stress and trauma than the general public will ever truly understand.”

The controversy comes at a time when Aurora leaders are working to create a new system of independent, civilian oversight of the department. The city’s current Independent Review Board has only reviewed six disciplinary cases in the past four years and critics said the board does not have the authority it needs to provide effective oversight.

On March 29, two people called 911 to report an officer who appeared to be unconscious in an unmarked car in the middle of East Mississippi Avenue near Buckley Air Force Base. Deputy Chief Paul O’Keefe — who will take over as interim chief when Metz retires Dec. 31 — was the first to arrive on the scene.

O’Keefe banged on the driver’s window but Meier drifted in and out of consciousness and couldn’t open the door. Meier wore his uniform, and the car was in gear with his foot on the brake. Firefighters broke the window and at least three officers who responded to the scene noted Meier smelled of alcohol before he was taken to a hospital. O’Keefe also noted a “fleeting” smell of booze in the car.

O’Keefe first asked a traffic officer to investigate the case as a potential DUI, but later decided that Meier’s “physical demeanor was not what I thought was consistent with alcohol intoxication; it appeared more medical in nature,” he wrote in a report.

Police did not test for alcohol consumption or seek a blood draw from Meier.

During an internal affairs investigation into the incident, Meier admitted he’d drunk vodka while on duty and blacked out. He said he had no memory of the incident until he woke up in the hospital.

Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said last week that his office will look into the incident.