Editor's note:
Some of the photographs and descriptions accompanying this article contain depictions of graphic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
Answers and accountability.
Bishop Marc L. Neal said his community is still in search of it — hours after Akron Mayor Shammas Malik and Police Chief Brian Harding, in a Friday morning press conference, addressed limited body camera footage that left numerous questions unanswered.
Did Jazmir Tucker, a 15-year-old freshman at North High School, have a weapon in his hand when an unnamed police officer shot him?
Was Tucker a threat?
Minutes earlier: Why did a police officer retrieve an assault-style rifle — his personal weapon — from the police vehicle instead of using a service-issued handgun?
What occurred to make the police officer believe deadly force was necessary? Was de-escalation an option?
Why were life-saving efforts delayed for at least seven minutes?
“Face down on the cold ground and nobody seeing about him,” said Kemp Boyd, the executive director of Love Akron, a Christian-based organization that seeks to unify “colors, cultures and congregations” across the Akron area.
Could the situation on Thanksgiving night near Miller South School for Visual and Performing Arts have been handled without the police-involved shooting death of Tucker?
Malik and Harding spent much of the press conference saying they were unable to answer these questions and others due to an open investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. An internal investigation by the Akron Police Department will follow.
That explanation wasn’t enough for Neal, who said he has been in regular communication throughout the week with Malik and other city officials.
“What’s reasonably objective may not be morally right,” said Neal, who is also a member of an interdenominational coalition of 162 faith leaders in Akron.
“When do morals come in?”
As senior pastor at Dominion Family Church, Neal said he and other faith leaders routinely discover issues between Akron police and congregation members, or their friends. Issues that weaken already fragile community bonds.
“The community don’t trust police officers at all, because of instances like this,” Neal said, while also celebrating Akron police officers who act with morals, handle stress and don’t navigate around the city with unnecessary aggression.
The community distrust that Neal spoke of was built up over time, said Boyd, who also serves as the chair of the Akron Citizens’ Police Oversight Board and head football coach at Garfield Community Learning Center. Even worse — Boyd believes the feeling goes both ways. Many in Akron’s community don’t trust Akron police. And the police don’t believe in the community.
This distrust, Boyd said, was likely showcased during the immediate aftermath of Tucker being shot. Despite a sizable police presence at the scene, officers waited at least seven minutes to attempt life-saving measures.
“Nobody attended to him from a standpoint of humanity,” Boyd said. “We’re all in the service game, right? We’re all here to serve. Whatever it is that he did, I don’t know that we served him in those eight minutes.
“It’s hard when you’re trying to sing the gospel narrative of love and trust and nobody is giving you things to work with.”
This ill will dates back far before Thanksgiving 2024. It includes the fatal shooting of Michael Jones, 54, during an investigation of an allegedly stolen U-Haul truck (Aug. 17). And the fatal shooting of Jayland Walker by eight police officers (June 27, 2022).
Led by Rev. Ray Greene Jr., The Freedom BLOC previously called for Harding to be fired as police chief after Harding rejected the findings of the city’s independent police auditor surrounding a use-of-force case where a police officer body-slammed a woman.
“There’s really nothing you can say; we’re past the point of talking,” Greene said. “Anything other than job terminations, anything other than the Department of Justice will be here tomorrow; anything else is really irrelevant.”
Harding, who was named police chief in May, has promised training that will change the way Akron police interact with residents and visitors.
Neal is cautiously optimistic.
“Community leaders are asking about training,” Neal said of upcoming efforts to equip Akron police officers with advanced de-escalation and tactical training.
“Thank God for training; but how about implementation of the training?”
Greene urged residents to have serious conversations about who they elect in the future, and who will run for political office.
“Let’s have real conversations about change,” he added. “Let’s not turn on one another. Let’s take our community back. We have to understand how systems work. Good people want to see change in our city.”
