Residents voice hopes for accountability, accessibility from Akron's next police chief

Akron residents weren't shy Thursday night about providing Mayor Shammas Malik with the feedback that he asked for.

Roughly 70 to 80 people — including activists, City Council members, members of the Citizens' Police Oversight Board, residents, and safety services personnel — showed up at the Garfield Community Learning Center auditorium for the first of three town halls relating to the city's search for a new police chief.

People lined up to ask questions and voice their concerns about the process. Still more wrote their queries on notecards to be read by moderator Robert DeJournett. For over an hour, Malik spoke with his constituency, answering their questions and encouraging them to reach out further.

Some were concerned about making sure the city finds a candidate who's credible; others asked about how the final candidate would interact with Akron's immigrant communities.

Some audience members urged Malik to hire from within the department — a sentiment echoed by a billboard truck in the parking lot and by a person costumed as a "Paw Patrol" dog, carrying a sign urging the city to "save our tax dollars."

Malik said the search for a new police chief is critical for Akron residents and the city's future.

"Getting this right is important," he said, "and process, to me, is important — having opportunities for people to provide feedback, because I don't have all the best ideas. I have some thoughts and some ideas, but you guys do, too."

Attendees also had an opportunity to fill out the community survey asking what they'd like to see from a new police chief and from the department, copies of which can be found online at https://t.ly/orYdp and at all of the city's community centers, a list of which can be found online at https://t.ly/7e9Bt. The survey has been translated online into Nepali, Spanish and Arabic.

A version of the survey will also be distributed to Akron Police Department personnel.

Malik anticipates the search will take three to five months. In the meantime, he has named Brian Harding as acting chief.

The nationwide search is being conducted with the help of Ralph Anderson & Associates — the same consulting company that led the search resulting in former police chief Steve Mylett taking the role in 2021.

In the search for a new chief, several traits are being prioritized — namely experience managing a large police organization, a strong sense of integrity and honesty, emphasis on community policing and violence intervention, and commitment to fostering trust with residents through relationship-building, transparency and accountability.

We've pulled together just a few of the evening's questions and answers. For the full picture, you can stream the event in its entirety on the city's YouTube page.

Can the next police chief follow though on promises to Akron?

Akron attorney and community organizer Imokhai Okolo asked Malik how residents can trust the final candidate to follow through on promises. How, he wondered, can Akron know for sure that a candidate won't just lie to get the job?

"Ultimately we have to make an assessment," Malik answered. "That's why we're going to have a lot of people weighing in. That's why we're going to have at least two town halls in which those finalists will be up here on stage, and you will get to make that determination and share your opinion as well."

Will the new Akron chief be pushed to make data-informed decisions?

Djuan Wash, deputy executive director of Freedom BLOC, asked Malik what he would do to ensure the new chief uses data to make informed decisions about police matters.

Wash said he'd found data showing a 5% decrease in calls for service in Akron, and that theft was the leading crime in the city. He asked why money in the city budget couldn't be used for addressing the root causes of crime and determining whether people's basic needs are being met.

Malik responded that his administration is working on creating a data and transparency strategist position who will identify what data the city collects, what data the city needs to begin collecting and then organizing it in an easily understandable way that can then be shared with residents.

"What we want to do is get the data and information out to people, and people can form their own opinions and judgements and comments and give us feedback," Malik said, adding that data is important for all city departments. He also spoke about how data is used to determine how to assign officers and when and where officers are needed.

"I want officers — patrol officers — to be able to spend a certain amount of their time on proactive measures, on foot patrols, things like that — not rushing from call to call to call to call," Malik said.

Will the new chief be friendly to Akron's immigrant populations?

A retired mental health professional asked Malik to ensure that whomever is picked to fill the police chief role be "immigrant-friendly."

"That was part of the reason why we wanted to have this survey translated into several languages," Malik said. "And part of that is also that we're going to try to have a fair sample of people from across the whole city, from each ward."

Conversations are in progress with the University of Akron and the Bliss Institute to determine what that representation looks like, he said. While the focus of the evening is on policing, Malik said, the city's various departments have plenty of work to do when it comes to inclusivity and how city government interacts with Akron's myriad populations.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Town hall brings community voices into Akron police chief search