Akron police union fights chief on state investigation of Jayland Walker shooting
The Akron police union is demanding that the chief “immediately cease using BCI to investigate officer involved shootings” because the outsourcing takes work away from local officers.
On June 27, the day eight officers shot and killed Jayland Walker, Police Chief Steve Mylett broke with a longstanding practice in Akron where past chiefs have reviewed fatal police shootings internally instead of calling in state investigators, which is increasingly the norm across Ohio.
Within hours of Walker's death, Mylett asked Ohio Attorney General David Yost for an external review by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Until then, only fellow Akron officers investigated fatal encounters with Akron police.
Immediately after Mylett's decision, the Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 filed a grievance saying the chief had violated the police union contract by allowing state investigators to steal work from local officers in the union.
In a letter dated June 27 and released by the city this week through a public records request, the FOP complained that “investigations of officer involved shootings within the City of Akron is [sic] the bargaining unit work of the Akron Police Department; specifically, the APD Detective Bureau.”
Mylett immediately denied the grievance, which could have been reviewed by two levels of supervisors before reaching the chief's desk. If the union and chief fail to reach an agreement, an arbitrator would be called in to resolve the dispute. That arbitrator's final decision would be binding for both sides, according to the collective bargaining agreement between the city and police union.
Breaking from tradition
In the past 22 years of available records, the Beacon Journal could find only one time in which an Akron police chief requested a state investigation after an officer-involved shooting in the city. That incident, however, involved a Stow officer who shot and killed a homeless man outside the Haven of Rest in 2017.
Walker is at least the 23rd person killed by Akron police since 2000 and the third since Mayor Dan Horrigan selected Mylett as the new chief last year, according to a database of fatal police encounters maintained by the Beacon Journal. The other recent deaths were investigated internally, and the officers involved were returned to active duty within weeks. Since Walker's death, Mylett has asked BCI to investigate two more officer-involved shootings, each of them non-fatal.
Police shot Walker 46 times, according to an autopsy report. The use of deadly force, unlike other recent incidents involving one or two officers and far fewer gunshots, prompted the chief to adopt what he called the national “best practice” of calling in an outside agency to establish independent accountability and build community trust in the integrity of the investigative process.
The results of the state probe, which could take months based on recent BCI cases across Ohio, will be turned over to local prosecutors or a grand jury to decide whether charges are warranted against the officers involved.
Mylett, who did not respond to a request for comment on this story, has said he is consulting the police union on a standard procedure for investigating critical incidents moving forward.
Union says officers should not have given written statements
At the end of August after the Beacon Journal requested a copy of the grievance from the city, Cozart said in an interview that state investigators are essentially stealing work from the Akron Police Department’s persons unit, which typically reviews fatal officer-involved shootings alongside the Office of Professional Standards and Accountability, also known as internal affairs.
“Let's just preface this,” Cozart said. “We, the officers, are cooperating with the investigation completely. OK. Make sure you put that in writing. However, for them to change the procedure in the middle of an incident goes against our contract. And we're not saying that we can't work something out.”
The eight officers involved have spoken to state investigators and provided initial accounts in writing, which Cozart criticized in the FOP’s August newsletter.
“THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED,” Cozart wrote to members after learning that the eight officers’ written statements were released to the Beacon Journal per a public records request. “If you are giving an oral interview, that is your case supplemental. These [written] case supplementals were released to the media without notification of the officers or the FOP Office. This created a hindrance to the investigation. There can be no shadow investigations.”
Cozart told the Beacon Journal that the grievance had to be filed as a matter of procedure.
"We're not against BCI doing this investigation," Cozart said, taking issue with the loss of local union work and the Beacon Journal's interest in the grievance. "So, this is why I don't think it's a story because we are cooperating with the investigation. So what? Who cares if there's a grievance? That's not going to change anything."
Walker family upset, not surprised by FOP grievance
It's unclear if Akron detectives are reviewing the matter, along with internal affairs, or if the entire criminal investigation into the killing is being handled by BCI. Cozart said that's a question for the chief.
In addition to the grievance notification, the Beacon Journal requested possible emails, letters and texts between the FOP and the offices of the mayor and police chief. That request was deemed "overly broad and ambiguous" as the Beacon Journal sought communications with all representatives of the mayor and chief.
Among the documents sought is a "written response" that's supposed to be attached to the chief's same-day denial of the grievance.
In demanding an independent investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the family of Jayland Walker, which is represented by the DiCello Levitt law firm, has questioned the flow of information between the police union and state investigators after Cozart told the media that officers were surveilling Walker just before attempting to stop his vehicle on Tallmadge Avenue.
"While it is concerning that the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7 has taken the position that BCI should not be involved in the investigation into the shooting death of Jayland Walker, we and the family have known for some time that Chief Mylett's decision was unpopular with certain officers and FOP leaders," Attorney Bobby DiCello said in an emailed statement this week. "The family prays for a thorough and impartial review of this matter, and their only concern at present is achieving justice for Jayland."
Mayor Horrigan has not spoken publicly about the dispute between the chief and the union. On July 8, nearly two weeks after the incident and following a weekend of protesting that ended in dozens arrested, Horrigan penned an internal letter to city employees, including police officers.
Horrigan asked the nearly 1,800 employees of the city of Akron to continue to display empathy, professionalism and humanity in the face of "more challenges in the weeks ahead."
"I commit to keeping you informed, and to providing you the support needed under these circumstances, which may require all of us to go above and beyond to serve our community," Horrigan wrote. "A full, thorough and impartial investigation will take time, but the community and our workforce deserve answers. Throughout that time, I hope that you'll join my call for patience and respect for the investigatory process."
Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron FOP challenges call for state probe of Jayland Walker shooting
