AKRON, Ohio – The city of Akron hosted a livestreamed Police Search Town Hall Thursday night to allow the community to ask questions of the four final candidates vying to become Akron’s next police chief.

The city has sought community input throughout the process. In the spring, a survey was issued to help officials better understand citizen’s most pressing issues. Then, in the lead up to the town hall, residents were asked to submit questions for the candidates.

What You Need To Know

  • The city has sought community input through a survey in the spring and through resident questions during the town hall
  • Mayor Dan Horrigan said residents indicate they want “a police force that looks like them, respects them and protects them"
  • The four finalists are all experienced police officers with strong backgrounds and years of policing
  • All four candidates said they would live inside the Akron city limits if hired

“The responses came through loud and clear,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said before introducing the candidates. “The community wants a police force that looks like them, respects them and protects them.”

The four finalists:

The town hall was moderated by Executive Director of Love Akron Kemp Boyd, who is also a coach at Garfield-Kenmore High School.

Out of the gate, Boyd asked the candidates what would be the toughest part of coming into the city from the outside and making transformational change.

Hawkins said it's important for an outsider to appreciate and respect any existing traditions. He said the department knows change is coming, and members are generally open to new ideas.

“One of the great opportunities is that the sky really is the limit for a person coming in,” Hawkins said. 

Davis said he had been on the inside of his department in Portland when a new chief took over, which gave him insight. Change often has inherent tension, he said, especially in current times, in part, because people fear loss.                             

“The most important challenge to take on right away is to start to mitigate that and start to lead the organization forward is to establish relationships and earn people’s trust,” Davis said.  

It’s also important to not overlook the relationship with the community, he said, which would mean interacting regularly with residents in the city for the first year or so.

"Respect is vital when coming to a new department," said Sullivan. "A new chief can expect to spend a lot of time listening in the first year."

One benefit of coming in from the outside, he said, is the chief will have no preconceived notions and can take a fresh look at the situation.

Mylett said he had been new to police departments twice in his career, and both times approached with a level of humility. Before arriving, he did as much research as he could and once he was there he interviewed all the employees, asking a specific set of questions.

He also talked to council members, members of the administration and key community stakeholders. Together, those conversations  revealed a theme that helped him frame a vision for moving forward.

Boyd asked all the candidates whether they would live in the city of Akron if hired, which they all answered positively.

“Being a police chief is a 24/7 job,” Sullivan said. “It also sends a very important message.”

Davis said living in the city is a way to show commitment, although employees shouldn’t be required to live in the city limits.

Hawkins said he has always lived in the cities he polices, even in the early ‘90s in Michigan, when there were safety issues for police officers who lived in the community they policed.

The candidates were also asked their thoughts on working in partnership with a civilian oversight board. The city of Akron has developed one as part of the Racial Equity Task Force.

Sullivan said he worked closely with such a board in Philadelphia and valued the input.

Hawkins said such boards represent the future, whether law enforcement likes it or not, he said, calling it “natural evolution.”

“It’s a good thing to have another set of eyes,” he said.

For years, the only departments that had civilian oversight had issues with corruption or the employees hadn’t been held accountable, Mylett said. But that has changed as more and more cities adopt these boards.

Police departments have always been answerable to the community and through the elected officials, he said. In Akron, he would welcome working closely with the police auditor.

 “It is actually a good thing as long as it is implemented thoughtfully,” David said. Portland has been on the cutting edge of community oversite for some time, he said.

Davis is currently working on developing a model to reduce gun violence in the city, which includes a community group working with the patrol officers to come up with strategies that are acceptable to the community, he said.

“[Community oversite] doesn’t only add value in your complaint and discipline process, although it does there as well,” he said.

Mylett was asked what he would do to change the adversarial relationship the police department has with young people, African-Americans and the faith-based community.

He said two minutes is not enough to answer what he called a “very, very important question.”

The bottom line, he said, is to reach out and communicate with these groups, all of which are important for police to have strong relationships with.

Boyd asked Davis about his opening comment, which referenced the “crossroads” the law enforcement industry is facing.

Davis said building back trust is the highest priority of Akron’s next police chief. He said he believes in truth and reconciliation.

“One of the first steps is to acknowledge where harm has been done in the past in history,” he said. “I am always surprised how reluctant a lot of us are in the policing profession to just sit down with people and say ‘You know what, I’m sorry my profession had that impact on you. And I want to make it right.’”

Hawkins said he has been frustrated that the same type of pain and outrage experienced in the 1990s early in his career, are still happening today. He compared the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles to the recent killing of George Floyd.

He said there are still gaps between the police, and groups like youths and the African-American community. In Albany, those relationships are good, he said, because the department built upon strategies that were going well.

The everyday interactions between police and community members matter most, he said. Police need to engage more with the community, and those communities should have a say in the way their communities are policed.

The Akron Police Chief Search Town Hall can be viewed on the city’s YouTube page.

The city wants residents to email their reactions to the candidates’ responses to APDchiefsearch@akroinohio.gov.