Stark County NAACP calls for 'increased transparency' with Canton police
CANTON − The Stark County NAACP wants increased transparency, police reforms and a community dialogue about qualified immunity in the wake of the grand jury's decision not to indict Canton police officer Robert Huber.
Huber shot and killed 46-year-old James Williams, who was firing an AR-556 rifle into the air inside a fenced area at his southwest Canton home on New Year's Day.
"Transparency is the right arm of justice," according to a NAACP statement shared with The Canton Repository. "It is revealing the aspects of the investigation step by step, informing the family, and the community along the way, and not at the culmination of the investigation. The civic and police community must develop ways to be more transparent in sharing with the public, documents or video that may have been used in the investigation of this potentially criminal matter."
NAACP president says timely release of body camera footage should be 'standard operating procedure'
NAACP President Hector McDaniel also said the release of body camera video within seven days of an incident should be "standard operating procedure."
Canton police released video from Huber's body-worn camera four days after the fatal shooting. When asked whether department policy includes a time frame for releasing video, Lt. Dennis Garren said in an email Wednesday that police release video "in accordance with all state laws and house bills."
Garren also said that Chief John Gabbard met Tuesday with "concerned citizens" to discuss the department's policies, training, communication and community engagement.
"The chief found that an information gap may exist regarding the extent of our current policies, which have been certified as fully compliant with all eight priorities by 8Can'tWait.org since 2020, and he encourages anyone interested to review that website and our policies," he said.
NAACP calls for police reform; city policies meet Campaign Zero standards
The NAACP called for police reforms, and when asked to elaborate, McDaniel cited a July 2020 article about Canton not fully implementing the eight policies intended to reduce police violence. The city has since revised its policies to meet the standards set by Campaign Zero ― the advocacy group behind 8 Can't Wait.
The 8 Can't Wait campaign encourages police departments to:
Ban chokeholds and strangleholds
Require de-escalation to avoid using force
Require a warning before using deadly force
Exhaust all alternatives before deadly force
Require officers to intervene and report officers who use excessive force
Ban shooting at moving vehicles
Establishing a continuum about the level of force acceptable in different situations
Require officers to report each time they use or threaten force
Canton's policies for requiring de-escalation and a warning before deadly force include the condition "when feasible," according to 8cantwait.org.
Canton police to conduct internal investigation of fatal officer-involved shooting of Jason Williams
Now that the criminal investigation has ended, the Canton Police Department will conduct an internal investigation to determine whether policies were followed in the fatal shooting and if any discipline is warranted. Williams' widow Marquetta Williams also has filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against Huber and the city.
"The Stark County NAACP will continue to stand with the Williams family, and continue pursuing justice through greater transparency, appropriate police reform and a reevaluation of qualified immunity in our Stark County community," the release stated.
Qualified immunity was established by the U.S. Supreme Court and protects government officials from personal liability in civil lawsuits ― unless a clearly established constitutional right was violated.
The NAACP statement encourages "a community dialogue concerning the history, application, and value of qualified immunity" but McDaniel said the NAACP had no recommendations for specific actions regarding the legal doctrine.
"I don't think the community knows a whole lot about it," he said. "It is a subject matter that we want to address at some point."
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.comOn Twitter: @kbyerREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: NAACP seeks police reform in Canton Ohio after fatal shooting
