AKRON, Ohio — Akron is on the hunt to find their next police chief.
But before this happens, the city hosted its first town hall discussion on Thursday at Garfield Community Learning Center to get the community’s feedback.
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“You have the power to pick someone strong, honest who can lead this department in a different direction,” said one Akron resident.
This is the first public engagement of Mayor Shammas Malik’s administration.
He told News 5 that he understands this is a critical decision, especially following the police shooting death of Jayland Walker.
“Our community is hurting. Our community is still healing from a tragedy that happened here, and so it has raised the level of focus on things like this,” said Mayor Shammas Malik.
In June 2022, eight Akron police officers shot and killed Jayland Walker.
Then in April 2023, a special grand jury declined to indict the officers involved after determining no department policies were violated.
However, at Thursday night’s townhall, residents like Lillian say this incident has left a big hole in the community.
“We don’t still feel safe because Chief Mylett did not release the eight names of the officers that killed Jayland Walker, so we need to make sure that we have a trusting chief,” said Lillian, who’s an Akron resident.
When selecting a new police chief, Malik says building a better relationship between the community and police, community policing, and violence intervention are some of the priorities.
Imokhai Okolo says the city’s goals and this dialogue is a good first step as the community continues to heal.
“I think the community really wants a solid police chief to come in here and really try to build and deepen the relationship between the police and the community,” said Okolo.
Other residents say they would like the next chief to be immigrant-friendly and considered within the department to avoid additional costs to taxpayers.
“These officers know Akron. They know the streets. They know what’s going on, and they know what needs to be done,” said one Akron resident.
The mayor says the city is opening the process to both internal and external candidates.
Malik also makes it clear they have already contracted an agreement with Ralph Anderson and Associates as their search firm, which he estimates will cost between $50,000 to $100,000 to help with the selection process.
“We’re paying the search firm regardless of whether it’s an internal candidate or external candidate,” said Malik. “It’s important that there be a process that we don’t just pick somebody out of the blue.”
The city plans to host two more town halls as they narrow down the list, and they estimate it should take between three to five months to hire the new chief.
