Deputy Chief Brian Harding can remove “acting” from his title, as Mayor Shammas Malik on Friday announced that the man who has led the Akron Police Department since January earned the permanent role.
The announcement naming Harding as police chief marks the end of a controversial hiring process that originally saw Malik promise a nationwide search as he prepared to take office before abruptly pivoting earlier this year to internal candidates. His law department, he said, discovered a state law that he interpreted as requiring him to only consider candidates internally from the rank below the open position.
The process drew the ire of Black leaders. After Harding, who joined the Akron Police Department in 1995, was named the sole finalist, Akron residents also criticized the decision during two town halls.
The only two candidates ever under consideration were white men.
“There’s certainly a disappointment and a sadness in how this process played out,” said attorney Imokhai Okolo on Friday. Okolo, who represents the teenager shot by Akron police in April, spoke out multiple times during the process. “There seemed to be an overwhelming amount of community support to delaying the process to allow for a diverse candidate pool. It feels like that was just shooed off and ignored with no genuine interest in trying to engage with the community concerns.”
In a Friday statement announcing the hire, Malik said “I believe Chief Harding’s experience, work ethic, integrity, and heart for public service make him the right person to lead the Akron Police Department. He will be a key partner in implementing our administration’s vision for public safety, including strengthening APD’s efforts to combat violence, building trust and accountability, refocusing on community policing, and prioritizing recruitment and retention of a strong, effective, and diverse workforce.”
Harding said in the statement he was honored to serve the Akron community, as well as the APD’s officers and civilian staff as their next chief of police.
“This is a responsibility I take very seriously,” Harding said, “and I plan to work closely with our team and our community as we take strides together to create the city we all want.”
City of Akron’s search process
Because of Malik’s legal interpretation, he believed he could only consider Harding and Deputy Chief Jesse Leeser to lead the police department. In the end, he opted to not wait to fill the role until after he had an opportunity to add an amendment to November’s ballot. If voters approved, the amendment would have allowed the administration to supersede state law and consider external candidates.
“At some point, it’s a value judgment on how you’re going to best get systemic change,” Malik told Signal Akron in April about why he shouldn’t wait until the fall to appoint a permanent chief.
“Having a diverse pool for a police chief search is absolutely a priority. [But] should it be a priority to the limit of every other priority? That by itself is not going to fix the Akron Police Department.”
Akron NAACP President Judi Hill said Friday’s announcement was a foregone conclusion.
“They held those community forums and during those community forums, community members shared some concerns,” Hill said. “I hope that they didn’t just hold those forums for the sake of holding a forum, that they listened to the fact that it wasn’t just African Americans that were upset, that community members were upset, and that there were some very valid points that needed to be addressed. I hope we can address them.”
Public records obtained by Signal Akron indicate Harding’s and Leeser’s applications were the lone candidates sent to Malik by the search firm he hired for consideration.
“It looks like it excludes a diverse candidate pool,” Hill said at a forum her group organized alongside the Black Elected Officials of Summit County and Freedom Bloc.
About Harding, Akron’s next police chief
According to Harding’s resume, he was previously a deputy chief (2021-2023), a captain and director of Akron Safety Communications (2017-2021), a lieutenant in the Office of Professional Standards and Accountability (2015-2017), an acting lieutenant and sergeant in the juvenile auto theft and missing persons divisions (2002-2015), and a sergeant in the patrol division (2000-2002).
In his application for the Akron Police Department’s top job, Harding’s cover letter made the case for why he should become chief of police.
“Dedication, service to others, and integrity are words used to describe me as a person and as a law enforcement leader,” Harding wrote on Feb. 29. “I possess a strong set of morals that have guided me in both my professional and personal life. I am a visionary leader with a proven record of operational excellence, executive development, hiring, recruitment, budgeting and team building skills.”
He stated that his “ability to foster relationships and collaborate with elected officials, community partners, supervisors, and coworkers to enhance the quality of life for those we serve. You will find that I am committed to engaging stakeholders, building coalitions, creating shared visions, and leading police operations through transparency and ethical values.”
The city will hold an official swearing-in ceremony on May 27.
“Because it was so urgent, we expect to see that urgency reflected in the results of the next couple months,” Okolo said about Malik choosing to hire Harding now instead of hiring a candidate after a ballot measure. “If he hasn’t gotten anywhere by November, what was the point? You said this was so urgent, Shammas, well let’s see.”
