Akron to revisit police department’s use-of-force policy

AKRON, Ohio – Akron Mayor Shammas Malik says he is committed to a review and revision of the police department's use-of-force policy following criticism of how the city handled the aftermath of a January incident in which a woman was body slammed by an officer.

Dierra Fields was being detained by police when she was thrown to the ground and handcuffed in an incident that an internal review determined followed the police department's use-of-force policy.

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The city's police review board and auditor, which is tasked with reviewing such decisions, disagreed with the decision and recommended discipline.

"Chief (Brian) Harding and APDs Internal Affairs, Office of Professional Standards and Accountability, went back and reviewed the incident again based upon their professional judgment. They did not agree with the auditors recommendation on the use of force," Malik said during a news conference on Wednesday.

"They maintained the determination that the use of force was within policy and was objectively reasonable. That is, the administration determination for the purposes of discipline," said Malik.

"I've discussed the issue during the course of this process repeatedly, and I did not ask him to change that determination," the mayor added.

But he sees the incident as a catalyst to finally undertake a process that has been discussed publicly by critics of the department even before the 2022 fatal police involved shooting of Jayland Walker in 2022.

"What I see here is that there are many people in the community who say that whether this is within policy or not, that what happened, that this use of force involving Ms.. Fields is not the kind of policing we want to see and honestly, that's how I feel, too," said the mayor.

January's incident also resulted in community activists calling for the resignation of Chief Harding.

But on Wednesday the mayor said, despite their disagreements over how some use-of-force incidents are dealt with internally, the chief has his full support.

"Scapegoating someone is not right. I don't believe that's going to get us to where we need to go. I believe that having a very difficult conversation and then having meaningful action come out of that about the policy is a crucial is an essential step. It's not the only step. Right. Training is a big piece of it," said Malik.

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Harding, who was also present for Wednesday's press conference, said he wants to maintain open dialogue with community organizations so that he can understand what everyone wants from their police department.

"I take this very seriously," said Harding.

"I respect the input and feedback of honor for now and the oversight board and how I find value having an important dialog about our policing policies and practices. I and members of our department have been meeting with community leaders and community groups to learn about their expectations of public safety," he continued

"The auditor and I may not always disagree, may not always agree on his findings, but we both want what's best for Akron and for the safety of everyone," he added.

With respect to training Malik and Harding said a group of officers is currently wrapping up training in a new program that the city believes will help give them skills to help de-escalate scenarios in which policy may permit the use of force.

"It's an advance of these a lot of scenario based training and also is a decision making model that allows and increases time distance the different tactics that we can additionally use to make an assessment in cases about how to use force, where to go positioning.

I know Louisville did a really detailed study after they went live with that and saw a significant decrease in use of force after that, they've seen a decrease in injuries to citizens and to officers. So it's a really exciting program," said Harding.

"This will provide our first responders with the tools, skills and options they need to defuse a range of critical incidents successfully and safely. It is an innovative and evidence based approach to the use of force, training and we look forward to offering it to each and every one of our officers," said Malik

The department on Wednesday also revealed an audit that shows decreases in virtually all violent crime including firearms related calls, rapes and homicides.

It also shows a solve rate higher than the national average.

"We found our solve rate was 21.46%, up from the 13% that were reported by the FBI. Although the assault rate may appear low, you'll see in the data that Chief Harding referenced that we were seeing an encouraging trend and a reduction in violent crime in Akron.

"We've seen a 33% decrease in a number of shootings and shots fired calls. We've seen the 38% decrease in the number of shootings into habitations. There's been a 25% overall decrease in a number of offenses where a firearm was used. And last year at this time, we had 20 murders in Akron compared to 15 this year, which is a 25% decrease over 2023." said Deputy Chief David Laughlin.

Laughlin also reported a 24-percent increase in illegal firearms seized from Akron streets as compared with this time last year.

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"Let me be clear that there's more work to be done, and even one shooting is too many, and one unsolved murder weighs heavily on our department.

I want to applaud take this opportunity to applaud the efforts of our officers as well as our community, to make Akron a safer place for all of us." said Harding.

One crime that remains unsolved, however, is the June 2, 2024 mass shooting during a birthday celebration in Akron.

"We have continued to receive tips on the shooting and detectives continue to follow up on each and every tip that we receive. Since our last update, detectives have worked in excess of an additional 400 hours on this case. We continue to ask anyone with information to please come forward. You can remain anonymous," said Harding, explaining that a detective has been assigned to work exclusively on the case.

"We also continue to work with a number of our partner agencies, including the ATF, the FBI, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Marshals, and the Summit County Sheriff's Office to work on this case," said Harding.

"While this case may not be in the headlines anymore, I think it's important our community knows that we continue to work diligently and would ask anybody with any information to please come forward. Even the smallest tip could make the break that we need in this case," he concluded.