Akron announces plans for citizen review board of police department

A special committee of Akron City Council reconvened Monday to discuss forming a civilian review board of the police department.

“This is something that our community has been talking about for quite sometime now," Akron Council President Margo Sommerville said Monday morning in a press conference conducted over Zoom. "We’ve seen these recommendations both by our Racial Equity and Social Justice Taskforce as well as Akron City Council’s Reimagining Public Safety Committee. And we truly believe that this is the best pathway forward for our community.”

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Community leaders, police experts, activists and mayor-appointed commissions have long called for a citizens board to oversee policing in Akron. The June 27 fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker intensified those demands.

Last week, Ward 8 Councilman Shammas Malik initiated the legislative process by asking the Akron Law Department to draft language for a charter amendment that would create a Civilian Oversight Board.

Malik’s proposal would establish a board of seven members appointed by the mayor and approved by Council. The group would receive and review complaints made against Akron officers, monitor and audit criminal and internal investigations into police conduct, promote community engagement and awareness, produce annual reports and make policy recommendations on policing.

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Unsure of whether civilian review boards can legally wield subpoena powers, Malik’s request is for the board to have “the authority to request the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, photographs, audio recordings, electronic files, and other tangible evidence relating to any incident or investigation that the OIPA (city office of Independent Police Auditor) is permitted to monitor or audit, subject to the restrictions of applicable federal and state law.”

During the special committee meeting, the mayor and other officials said the law department is exploring whether a charter amendment approved by voters would be needed if the civilian review board is given the authority to appoint the police auditor.

In response to Sommerville’s announcement to reconvene Council’s special committee Reimagining Public Safety, Mayor Dan Horrigan — who attended the brief virtual press conference with Police Chief Steve Mylett — voiced support for timely implementation.

"I know this is the right direction for the city of Akron,” the mayor said, thanking Council and the Racial Equity and Social Justice Taskforce he appointed in the wake of the George Floyd police murder in Minneapolis.

"There’s a number of communities across the country and the state of Ohio that have implemented citizens review boards. It’s important that it gets community feedback," Horrigan said.

"And I’m committed to implementing this in the right fashion, and very timely and expeditions way," the mayor said.

The city said press briefings will no longer be held daily but "as needed". In 6½ minutes Monday, reporters from multiple news outlets asked multiple questions. The city responded to six of the questions before ending the meeting.

Chief defends officers not wearing nametags

Police Chief Mylett defended his move to allow officers to patrol the streets of Akron and control protest crowds without wearing nametags.

City attorneys also have cited the safety of officers in denying the Beacon Journal's request for the names of the eight officers who shot Walker and earlier police shootings.

In the virtual press conference with limited time for the media to ask questions, Mylett confirmed for the first time that the FBI found two threats from “extremist groups” to be credible. The threats were forwarded to Mylett, who relaxed rules on wearing nametags after he said his officers and their families were identified and threatened by activists protesting the police killing of Walker on June 27.

“What we saw over the last couple weeks was reprehensible and it needs to stop,” Mylett said. “But I will be reviewing this over the next couple weeks.”

The chief would not identify the two extremist groups.

Protests at the downtown police station and rolling demonstrations across the city escalated in the first two weeks after eight officers shot Walker 46 times, according to a later-released autopsy. Mylett said the rolling demonstrations have calmed down, and the Beacon Journal observed no downtown protests on Sunday.

In a Facebook post last week, Sommerville raised accountability concerns related to unnamed officers interacting with the public. The issue was raised again Sunday when Horrigan met privately with black elected officials of Summit County in a meeting facilitated by the U.S. Department of Justice.

"As all of you know, I have a responsibility to enhance public safety in the city. That’s my biggest charge,” Mylett said Monday. “But I also have a responsibility to enhance the safety of your police officers.”

Mylett noted that Cleveland police have allowed officers to take off their nametags during tumultuous times. He reiterated that the officers are still wearing badges with their unique four-digit number.

Officers also are required to give their employee number upon request, he said. And a supervisor can be summoned if the public encounters any issues trying to get these numbers.

No timetable on meeting protest organizers

After missing an opportunity to meet with community activists and protest organizers last week, the mayor and police chief on Monday said they have no immediate plans to try again.

But each expressed a willingness to do so if the opportunity arises. Horrigan said his office continues to communicate with U.S. Department of Justice officials who set the meeting for Thursday last week.

Earlier coverage: Akron mayor, police chief skip meeting with activists over Jayland Walker case

“I don’t personally have a timetable of when they may or may not happen,” Horrigan said of federal efforts to bring the two sides to the table. Horrigan expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet and speak candidly with Black elected officials on Sunday, including members like state Sen. Vernon Sykes who said a closed door meeting might have been a better format for starting a dialogue with the city.

Mylett said he and the mayor had every intention of attending last week until it became clear that the media was invited. Horrigan did not directly answer a question about whether the media would be permitted to attend if the two sides again agree to meet.

“It was scheduled. It was on the books. And we were going,” Mylett said. “At the last minute, as it has been explained to me, the format changed to include additional people who were going to attend, including the media.

“Again, we’ll meet with whoever, whenever, so long as it is productive conversation. But based on advice that I received from our DOJ contact, it was recommended that we reschedule the meeting.”

Dashboard cameras may return

The chief and mayor also expressed an openness to bringing back dashboard cameras in police cruisers.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Tara Mosley reintroduced legislation to bring back the cameras, which were aging and abandoned between 2014 and 2016 as the city implemented body-worn cameras for officers.

Mylett said technology exists to link dashboard and body cameras. "They are different platforms that can talk to each other if the system is compatible," Mylett said.

And both tools have value.

"They give two distinct views of what an officer is seeing. And I think it will only enhance our ability to tell the public what we're doing, how we're doing it, why we're doing it and under what circumstances are we doing it."

Ward 7 Councilman Donnie Kammer said he'd like to see a company offer the city 10 to 20 dashboard cameras to pilot their use while discussing broader implementation.

Mylett said he may need more staffing to administer the program, which would increase the amount of footage stored daily. The chief said locally elected officials have sent a letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine requesting the release of federal American Rescue Plan to help fund the effort.

Reporter Eric Marotta contributed to this report. Reach Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jayland Walker: Akron unveils citizen review board plans for police