Akron officials are trying once again to conduct a review of the police department’s use-of-force policies. This time, the plan has a cheaper price tag than the $640,000 plan rejected by Akron City Council earlier this year.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik wants to put out a request for proposals to find and hire a consultant for the review. If approved, the city would spend $350,000 on the contract, he said.
The policy review would ensure Akron police officers have the best possible training, Malik said during City Council’s public safety committee meeting Monday.
“This is not saying every use of force is improper or should not have happened. This is saying, ‘How can we best approach these really fraught situations?’” Malik said.
Leaders and community members have called for a policy review in the wake of several fatal police shootings over the past several years, including Jayland Walker in 2022 and the death of 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker in November of last year.
Aside from shootings, uses of force can include punches, kicks, takedowns and deployment of Tasers, Police Chief Brian Harding said.
Akron’s police auditor, who investigates use-of-force incidents, has repeatedly called for a use-of-force policy review, particularly calling out the department’s procedures around head strikes and Tasers.
Officers are on board with the new proposal, Harding said.
“Our officers really want the best training and policies they can get, however, they also want to make sure they have a voice in how they’re implemented,” Harding said. “This request for proposals gives our officers, the community and our community stakeholders a voice in the process.”
Aside from disagreeing with the cost, council members also criticized the previous plan because Malik had wanted to work with an external firm led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, rather than a local entity.
Under the new proposal, experts in the University of Akron’s criminal justice studies program would work together with the consultant, particularly with implementing recommendations that come out of the review, Malik said.
“They will help support the review, but I think more importantly, they’ll be alongside the process so that they can help us in a more lasting way over the long term,” Malik said. “The university criminal justice studies department will kind of have been a part of the process all along, and can then help us then, directly, in the implementation.”
Council President Margo Sommerville said the new plan is a compromise that includes elements both the Malik administration and council members want.
“This is a good ‘meeting in the middle’ to address something that we all know that we must move forward on,” Sommerville said.
Councilmember Phil Lombardo questioned whether the policy review is needed because uses of force are relatively rare in the department, about one in every 497 police calls, according to the police department’s most recent data.
“So we’ve got $350,000 on the table for — what exactly is the problem? I guess I kind of go back to that,” Lombardo said.
Several council members pushed back on Lombardo’s question. In response, Chief Harding said the policy review could include national best practices about using force and de-escalation.
“We also need to make sure we’re staying current on what the current case law and current best practices are around passive resistance, active resistance, active aggression and deadly force cases,” Harding. “While [force is] used very infrequently, we need to be consistently training on this regard.”
Councilmember Johnnie Hannah expressed concern that the city does not want to hire a local firm. Malik said they will explore all options in the request for proposals.
Council voted to take time on the legislation Monday and will consider it at a future meeting.
