Mayor Horrigan Announces Updates Related to Racial Equity and Social Justice Taskforce Recommendations

City of Akron Press Release
From the desk of Stephanie Marsh
Published: 07-15-2022

Akron, Ohio, July 15, 2022 — Today, Mayor Horrigan published a document for the community announcing what recommendations from the Racial Equity and Social Justice (RESJ) Taskforce have already been implemented and which ones the city is working on next. Find the full document here.

• To learn more about the history of the taskforce and to view a full list of their recommendations and the 5 year strategic plan, please visit the city website here.
• View a letter from the RESJ Taskforce here.

Final recommendations from the RESJ Taskforce were provided on February 28, 2022. The following 2022 implementation recommendations have already been adopted and are in place:

1. The City created job descriptions for the Police Auditor and an administrative assistant and implemented the recommendations to make those positions full-time. The Auditor position is filled and the City is searching and recruiting for the administrative assistant position.
2. Body-worn camera recordings are uploaded by each uniformed police officer to the designated server at the end of each shift.
3. Officers are subject to discipline for failing to wear or activate body-worn cameras as well as failure to upload recordings as required.
4. The Police Auditor has immediate access to unredacted body-worn camera recordings, or, if it is authoritatively determined that such access is legally impermissible, the auditor has access to redacted body-worn camera recordings upon request within 72 hours.
5. Members of the public have access to redacted body-worn camera videos of the use of deadly force that causes serious bodily injury within seven days as required by the ordinance enacted by the Akron City Council.

The remaining items that the Criminal Justice Subcommittee recommended that the City implement in 2022 have garnered agreement. These recommendations either require coordination with additional agencies and private entities that are not directly under City management or are under legal and fiscal review:

1. Body-worn cameras should be worn by all deployed uniformed officers, including SWAT.
2. Uniformed officers should be required to wear body worn cameras while engaged in secondary employment.
3. Body worn cameras should be activated: immediately when responding to in-progress calls; on other calls when exiting the police vehicle; and whenever reportable force is used.

The City is also reviewing the fiscal implications of creating a full-time deputy police auditor position. The City’s full response to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee’s recommendations will be included in the September report and Implementation Plan.

“When the taskforce submitted their final recommendations to me this year, I vowed that they would not sit on a shelf as a lifeless document but would be a plan of action with specific benchmarks that the community would use to hold us accountable for creating real change," said Mayor Horrigan. "I'm thankful in light of what our city is currently experiencing, that these recommendations exist and that we have been diligently working on them since we received them. This is only the beginning and I'm looking forward to hearing more ideas and action items from our community in the days and weeks ahead.”

View www.akronupdates.com for more information.

For further information, contact:
Stephanie Marsh
Chief Communications Officer
Phone: 330-375-2754
E-mail: [email protected]