Akron will move forward with a review of the police department鈥檚 use-of-force policy.
Akron City Council voted 10 to 3 Monday night to put out a request for proposals for a consultant to conduct the review. The city will spend $350,000 on the contract.
The policy review would ensure Akron police officers have the best possible training, Mayor Shammas Malik said. It would help make it clearer for officers to determine when to use force and when to de-escalate, he said.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e putting them in difficult situations and not equipping them with the best possible policies and best possible training, in these life-and-death situations that we have seen over this last year and a half and before, then I think that鈥檚 a missed opportunity,鈥� Malik said Monday.
Akron鈥檚 police auditor, Anthony Finnell, has repeatedly called for a review of the use-of-force procedures, particularly around Taser use and head strikes.
Leaders and community members have called for a policy review in the aftermath of several fatal police shootings over the past several years, including Jayland Walker in 2022 and the deaths of 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker and 54-year-old Michael Jones in 2024.
The review is greatly needed, Council President Margo Sommerville said Monday.
鈥淭his is not an attack on the police, but this is about setting expectations. This is about creating good policy,鈥� Sommerville said.
Councilmembers Donnie Kammer, Phil Lombardo and Brad McKitrick voted against the proposal.
They expressed concern about the cost, given federal funding uncertainty, as well as forthcoming collective bargaining agreements for police and fire that will likely increase city expenditures on salaries.
鈥淚鈥檓 in favor of a police review, but not at the taxpayers鈥� expense right now,鈥� Kammer said.
Councilmembers previously rejected a $640,000 proposal from Malik earlier this year.
Aside from disagreeing with the cost, council members also criticized the previous plan because Malik had wanted to work with an external firm led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, rather than a local entity.
Under the new proposal, experts in the University of Akron鈥檚 criminal justice studies program would work together with the consultant, particularly with implementing recommendations that come out of the review, Malik said.
鈥淭hey will help support the review, but I think more importantly, they鈥檒l be alongside the process so that they can help us in a more lasting way over the long-term,鈥� Malik said in a previous safety committee meeting. 鈥淭he university criminal justice studies department will kind of have been apart of the process all along, and can then help us then, directly, in the implementation.鈥�
Council also unanimously approved the appointments of three new people to the nine-member Citizens鈥� Police Oversight Board. They also re-appointed current member Donzella Anuzskiewicz.
The new members are Juanita Elton, a former Akron police officer; Christopher Weems, a community mentor and Duane Crabbs, founder of nonprofit South Street Ministries, which works with underserved communities.
The terms of three members, including Anuzskiewicz, expired, and another member, Beverly Richards, is resigning later this summer.
