Two months into the job, Akron’s new independent police auditor has identified cultural and systemic issues within the Akron Police Department that he said must be addressed to avoid further public distrust and constitutional violations.
At Wednesday evening’s Citizens’ Police Oversight Board meeting, and in a report released Thursday, independent police auditor Anthony Finnell highlighted a March 1 incident where Officer Ryan Westlake threw a handcuffed girl into the side of his cruiser and onto the ground. Westlake was “untruthful” in his report about the incident and his supervisors wrongly cleared him of wrongdoing, Finnell said.
Finnell believes that Westlake could be charged with endangering children and wants the APD to investigate further and refer the incident to city prosecutors. He also wants Westlake’s supervisors — Sgt. Timothy Shmigal, Lt. Kimberly Williams, and Captain Kris Beitzel — and other members of Platoon 2 to be investigated by internal affairs for failing to properly supervise him.
Westlake was fired by the APD earlier this month.
Finnell also suggests that the police department punish officers who knowingly make false statements, that the resisting-arrest and use-of-force directive be updated, and that Shmigal’s use-of-force investigations be audited by internal affairs.
Thursday’s report marks the second time Finnell has challenged the APD since he was hired as independent police auditor in March. He previously challenged the clearance of Officer Thomas Shoemaker, who body slammed and arrested Dierra Fields in her home in January, and said Shmigal, who was there alongside Shoemaker, should be investigated for not intervening and reporting the force.
Finnell says he’s already spoken with Chief Brian Harding about his recommendations after the March 1 incident.
“On some of these recommendations, he’s in full agreement,” he told the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board on Wednesday. “On others, we still have further discussion.”
Is Ryan Westlake still an Akron police officer?
Westlake’s firing earlier this month was based on the department’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability investigations into the March 1 incident that Finnell reviewed as well as on a Dec. 31, 2023, incident where he held the barrel of his assault rifle against the head of a man being handcuffed on the ground by other officers. His personnel file features additional misconduct allegations against the officer.
On April 1, Westlake shot Tavion Koonce-Williams in the hand within seconds of pulling up on the 15-year-old holding a toy gun. That incident is currently being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and wasn’t a factor in his firing. But, Finnell said, if Westlake’s actions against the handcuffed girl on March 1 had been properly investigated by his supervisors, the officer may not have been on patrol at the time he shot Koonce-Williams.
March 1, 2024: More on Westlake’s incident
In the March 1 incident under scrutiny in Finnell’s report, Westlake, responding to a convenience store, encountered a minor that the business owner said had previously stolen from the store. Westlake handcuffed the girl and attempted to walk her to his cruiser, but she resisted and continued to argue.
“Officer Westlake was able to get the back door of his cruiser open,” Finnell wrote, “and at that time Officer Westlake threw [the girl], whose hands were handcuffed behind her back, backwards into the open door of the police cruiser, while screaming ‘Get into the f****** car you crazy b*****!’”
The girl fell backward, into the door and onto the ground, hitting her back and head, Finnell wrote. Westlake, the independent police auditor added, “failed to include the fact that he used profanity towards [the girl] and that he threw her into the door of the vehicle. The use of force report authored by Officer Westlake was not a factual account of the events that occurred between himself and [the girl].”
Finnell highlighted the lengths Westlake’s supervisors went to to justify his force
Finnell called out Shmigal’s incorrect justification for the use the force. Shmigal wrote:
“When the video is watched in full speed without context it appeared Ofc. Westlake threw her to the ground. During the course of my investigation, after slowing the video down frame by frame, I do not believe that is an accurate conclusion…. It would have been objectively reasonable for Ofc. Westlake to take the suspect to the ground and wait for backup at almost any time during this incident.”
Finnell said the force was not objectively reasonable and, even more, could be criminal: “Officer Westlake’s actions indicate someone who is out of control and reckless in nature.”
The auditor said that Shmigal, Lt. Williams and Captain Beitzel tried to “mitigate Westlake’s misconduct by preparing and approving” the use-of-force investigation that deemed it reasonable. The incident and the subsequent investigation “has exposed a systemic issue in which violence and unnecessary uses of force are condoned by some members of the APD. Discrepancies between what is reported by the officer and what is later learned through new, compelling and independent evidence seemed to have been overlooked, reinforcing misconduct within the ranks of the APD.”
How Akron Police Department’s internal affairs responded
After Westlake’s supervisors cleared him of any wrongdoing, the OPSA — the police department’s internal affairs office — investigated and came to a different conclusion, determining Westlake’s force was not objectively reasonable and not within department policy and procedures.
Finell agreed.
“Your actions in these instances demonstrate your continued disregard for the rules, regulations, and the policies of the City of Akron Police Department,” Westlake’s notice of disciplinary action stated. “Your previous disciplines and counseling sessions have not corrected your behavior. Your actions bring the City of Akron into disrepute or ridicule and demonstrate that you are unable to safely and effectively serve as a Police Officer.”
Example of bigger issue: ‘Harm to the City of Akron’
Finnell said Westlake’s firing is just the beginning of changing the culture within the APD.
“APD has taken the first step in addressing the issue of Officer Westlake’s misconduct by terminating his employment with the APD,” he concluded in the report. ”The next steps for accountability and transparency within the APD should be taken to address the permissiveness and willingness for some supervisors to justify officer misconduct.
“To allow such misconduct to continue will only breed more distrust, violations of citizen’s constitutional rights and unnecessary harm to the City of Akron.”