Story by Silas Tsang and Peter Fleischer. This article was originally published by Signal Akron media partner 3News.
A veteran Akron police lieutenant accused of misconduct won’t be fired — instead, he’ll be paid to stay home for more than a year. Records obtained by 3News Investigates show Lt. Brian Simcox was placed on paid terminal leave after an investigation found that he sexually harassed a co-worker.
The incident that effectively ended Simcox’s nearly 30-year career at the Akron Police Department happened at the visitation/funeral for 30-year veteran detective Clay Cozart. According to a notice of disciplinary charges, on July 5, 2025, Simcox was walking by a female officer, who had at the time less than two years of experience in her role with the Akron Police Department. Simcox signaled like he was giving her a high five — instead, the report says that he “slapped her derriere.”
The notice says Simcox texted the female officer and apologized, which the city of Akron used as an admission of guilt. It also notes that another officer observed the incident. City officials determined that Simcox’s actions were a form of sexual harassment.
Paperwork shows Simcox, who was assigned to be the Akron Ward 1 community engagement officer, was placed on paid leave on Aug. 6, but on Oct. 1, Simcox and the city of Akron agreed to a settlement. The deal allows the lieutenant to remain on payroll through January 2027. Simcox’s record ultimately will not reflect multiple instances that led to suspensions or losses of pay or benefits.
3News reached out to Akron’s largest police union — the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7. It noted Simcox was not terminated and will leave the department “in good standing.”
Prior history with Akron Police Department
According to his personnel file, it was in 2017 when, as a captain, Simcox was performing patrolman-level duties. In a civil suit in which Simcox and the city of Akron are named, Simcox and other officers detained a woman in a parking lot, suspecting she was there to buy drugs.
Simcox looked through the woman’s phone and found an offensive photo that he copied with his phone and then shared. The city of Akron settled with the woman for $60,000. Simcox was suspended for 60 days and demoted to the rank of lieutenant. He did, however, keep his captain’s pay of $49.62 per hour and was also given seniority among lieutenants in the department.
His file shows Simcox was disciplined again in 2020 after posting privileged information about the APD SWAT team to Facebook. He received a 10-day unpaid suspension.
Also in 2020, Simcox’s personnel report says he openly stated personal information about current and former employees at the Combined Communications Center. He was forced to give up 24 hours of PTO and attend two Human Resources Continuing Education classes. In 2022, he was disciplined for offensive conduct toward a city of Akron employee, forfeiting 16 hours of leave time.
Despite those disciplinary issues, virtually every employee review of Simcox throughout his career has been positive. One review between Oct. 21, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022, reads, “Administratively, I couldn’t have a better Lt working for me. Tasks are completed at a near bewildering speed while avoiding errors or needed omissions. It’s literally almost equivalent to feeding an assignment into a machine and it popping out on the other end near simultaneously.”
Throughout his career, Simcox often had perfect attendance; he did not take days off. Subsequently, during his terminal leave, he will be paid for 480 hours of comp time and 233 hours of sick leave.
3News Investigates reached out to the city of Akron and the Akron Police Department to learn more about how the settlement with Simcox was agreed upon, and to ask how the female officer involved was treated after the 2025 harassment.
The City of Akron responded, “We feel the current agreement that was reached was in the best interest of the City of Akron. The City takes all employee complaints very seriously and believes that the actions taken in this matter were appropriate, definitive and final.”