Akron Mayor Shammas Malik’s tiny pool of two internal, white police chief candidates now includes just one person, his office announced Wednesday afternoon.
Barring a change in direction from the mayor, who has remained steadfast in his controversial commitment to consider only internal candidates, Deputy Chief Brian Harding will be Akron’s next police chief. Harding, a 28-year Akron Police Department veteran, has been acting chief since Malik was sworn in Jan. 1.
The first police chief town hall, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Buchtel Community Learning Center, was supposed to feature both Harding and the other finalist, Deputy Chief Jesse Leeser. Community members, Malik said earlier this month, would be able to “share thoughts and ask questions of the candidates.”
But before community members could hear from the finalists and weigh in, Malik and his advisory team decided on Tuesday that they want to go ahead with only Harding. The two town halls – the second is April 23 at East Community Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – will still proceed with Harding.
“While many residents are familiar with Deputy Chief Harding from his years of service to our city, I am looking forward to the town halls which will provide our community with the opportunity to engage with him as the finalist for the Police Chief role,” Malik said in a statement.
“As a candidate for this important role and in his current role as Acting Chief, he has welcomed opportunities to meet with the community throughout this process. I believe this reflects his willingness to support more community-oriented policing here in Akron and demonstrates his commitment to Akron’s residents.”
Discovery of state law leads to suspension of nationwide search
Malik originally sought to conduct a nationwide search for Akron’s next police chief, but he announced in early March that his law department had discovered a state law that says police roles above entry level have to be filled through promotion from the rank below.
Instead of waiting until after November, when a ballot measure could add language to the city charter to override that state law before he hires a permanent police chief, Malik is sticking with the internal-only plan.
He’s drawn the ire of Black community leaders in Akron who criticized his insistence on only considering internal candidates. Because both of the department’s deputy chiefs applied for the chief role, Malik has only considered white men for the position.
Malik told Signal Akron last week that it’s important to have a chief in place quickly “who is able to help lead on the vision that I set out around community policing, around reviewing our policies, around so many different things. And not to go into [upcoming] union negotiations with someone who might not be there in three months, but with someone we know is going to be the chief that they’re going to deal with.
“I really view it, from an organizational standpoint, I owe people my best judgment, and my best judgment is not holding that seat open for a year.”
