Release of information needed after police-involved shootings in Akron, Portage County

As a costly taxpayer-funded entity with the ability to use deadly force, police departments must be held to the highest standards.

One of those standards is transparency — an openness about how things are done and why.

Unfortunately, the Akron Police Department and the Portage County Sheriff’s Office have a ways to go in transparency.

First, in Portage County, a 66-year-old woman was shot dead in an incident May 14 at a Windham Township home, but details are sketchy.

After four days, it was unclear who might have shot Cora Baughman, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. The Garrettsville Police Department and the sheriff's office responded to the home of Baughman’s neighbor, who, according to a 911 recording, told a dispatcher that an armed woman was in his garage and pointing a gun at him and trying to enter his home.

The sheriff's office has not responded to multiple media requests for information on the shooting that, according to its initial news release, involved one of its deputies. While we understand that the investigation is ongoing, a preliminary outline of events should be released.

Did any civilians fire guns? What was the victim doing when shots were fired?

Fortunately, Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski has asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to handle the investigation. Its findings will be turned over to the county prosecutor.

In Akron, three incidents involving fatalities in the past six months raise questions about how serious the city is about police transparency.

On Dec. 23, a man at a Kenmore home was fatally shot by police as he was threatening his estranged wife with a knife. The shooting was viewed as the first test of a new law Akron City Council passed that requires police videos in cases involving use of deadly force to be posted online within seven days.

Videos taken from four police body cameras were posted on akroncops.org just hours ahead of the one-week deadline. Additional officer-worn camera video was posted later in January.

While this is commendable, police could go further by releasing the names of the officers involved in this incident. They have so far refused, as they have with a Feb. 22 incident in which two men were found dead in a Ritchie Avenue home — one apparently slain by the other and one shot by police after he refused to drop a gun.

In March, the Beacon Journal requested the names, disciplinary records and personnel files of the officers involved in both incidents.

The city law department is denying the request, citing certain exemptions in state laws.

Across the country, police agencies pledged to build relationships after the outrage that followed George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020.

More: Akron-area leaders, activists share thoughts one year after George Floyd protests

But too often, police clam up. On Easter Sunday, a speeding vehicle crashed into a canal on Akron’s east side, with three young males suffering fatal injuries. The vehicle was fleeing a traffic stop, but that detail was withheld for days.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said he advised his staff not to reveal the information due to accuracy concerns.

"... one of the worst things I can do as chief is to put information out prematurely and then have to go back and correct it or retract it."

Is it really? What about all of the people who are spreading rumors in their neighborhoods or on social media? That is one of the reasons police should devote themselves to transparency, to shine a light on the truth. Not to mention, in this case the key fact was obvious immediately.

We're not saying the officers in any of these actions did anything wrong. They may have saved at least one innocent life in Kenmore.

But the public has a right to basic information that's not part of the ongoing criminal investigations. Have the involved officers improperly fired their weapons before? Or are they exemplary officers serving our community? Right now, we have no idea.

We call on Mayor Dan Horrigan's administration to strive for true transparency on all police matters.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police can build public trust by releasing information