Akron Police Chief Brian Harding may not take the reins of the Copley Township Police Department, a position Signal Akron previously reported he applied for. 

Following a Copley Township Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, the police chief job has been offered to another Akron Police Department official, Lt. Jason Beck. 

Copley Township Administrator Greg Tracey confirmed to Signal Akron that Beck is their candidate.

“The trustees have extended a conditional offer of employment to Jason Beck,” Tracey wrote in an email. “Jason is currently a Lieutenant in the Akron Police Department. Acceptance of the conditional offer will take place assuming Mr. Beck accepts the offer and successfully completes all applicable pre-employment testing.”

Beck joined the APD in 2014 after graduating from Kent State University’s police academy, state records show.

Polie Chief Michael Mier served in law enforcement for more than 40 years before retiring June 1 from the Copley Police Department. Mier had served in the role since December 1999.

Mike Yovanno has served as the acting police chief.

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Government Reporter (he/him)
Doug Brown covers all things connected to the government in the city. He strives to hold elected officials and other powerful figures accountable to the community through easily digestible stories about complex issues. Prior to joining Signal Akron, Doug was a communications staffer at the ACLU of Oregon, news reporter for the Portland Mercury, staff writer for Cleveland Scene, and writer for Deadspin.com, among other roles. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hiram College and a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University.

For routine messages, feel free to contact Doug Brown at doug@signalakron.org. If you have privacy concerns and/or want to share sensitive information, you can reach him on the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal (no connection to Signal Akron) under username @dbrown.2010 and encrypted email account db159@proton.me