AKRON, Ohio — The city of Akron has announced that their Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Charles Brown, will retire at the end of September. 

What You Need To Know

  • Charles Brown will retire on Sept. 23

  • This comes during a time of high tensions between elected officials in Akron and community activists following the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker 

  • Activists hope the community will have a say in the next person to fill this role 

This comes after calls from community members and activists for Brown to step down from his position following the fatal shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, who was shot by Akron police officers. 

A spokesperson for the city of Akron said they are not conducting any interviews regarding Brown’s retirement but told Spectrum News 1 via email that “[Brown] intended to retire this year and made those plans known earlier this year to the mayor.”

A city spokesperson also said, “He has served for more than 36 years as a dedicated public servant and we wish him the best on his well-earned retirement.” 

Ray Greene is the executive director of The Freedom BLOC, an activist group in Akron. He said this is a chance for positive change within Akron. 

“My initial reaction was congratulations to a man who has tried to do all that he can to make this city better,” Greene said. “Now we have to rethink what safety looks like as a community to ensure that our elected officials appoint the right person the next time.” 

The city of Akron said they are still working through their plans to find a replacement for the deputy mayor for public safety position. 

Greene explained that in his opinion, forming a relationship between elected officials and the community should be the starting point for the next person to fill this role. 

“We want to see him come from the community. We want to see the community engaged in the process to hire,” Greene said. “So now what we have to do, we have to really think about what safety is. Safety is affordable housing, safety is an education system that not only teaches the book things but also teaches conflict resolution. We have to take police out of schools and councilors in schools. So we have to do different things to make sure the public is safe, and the police is not those things.” ​