As embattled police officer Ryan Westlake fights to return to the Akron Police Department, Police Chief Brian Harding responded to a report about the officer from the independent police auditor that highlighted “cultural and systemic issues” within the department.
Independent Police Auditor Anthony Finnell investigated a March 1 incident where Westlake threw a handcuffed girl into the side of his cruiser and then onto the ground.
Harding agreed with Finnell’s recommendation that Westlake be investigated criminally for endangering children. Harding said the case was referred to the prosecutor’s office and Craig Morgan, the city’s chief criminal prosecutor, referred it to the City of Barberton’s prosecutors, which he said in his response was consistent with “previous practice.”
Harding also reiterated the department’s willingness to review the department’s use-of-force policy and pointed out several specific issues raised in Finnell’s report that could be “part of the process.”
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik forwarded Harding’s response to Finnell on Tuesday and, as he did with the administration’s first-ever response to criticisms and recommendations from the independent police auditor, the mayor emphasized a future policy review in lieu of addressing specifics about the case.
The frequently disciplined Westlake shot 15-year-old Tavion Koonce-Williams on April 1 and was fired weeks later by the APD, which cited the March incident with the handcuffed girl as well as a December 2023 incident where the officer held the barrel of his assault rifle to the back of a man’s head as he was being handcuffed. Westlake also grabbed the detainee’s hair and twisted his head.
The shooting of Koonce-Williams wasn’t factored into Westlake’s firing.
He appealed his firing, as allowed under the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the police union. Westlake and the city recently conducted four days of hearings in front of an arbitrator, who will soon decide whether the officer will be allowed to rejoin the force.
Malik’s spokesperson said they are waiting for the arbitrator’s response. Westlake was previously fired but reinstated by an arbitrator in 2021.
Finnell’s May report and Harding’s November response to it focused only on the March incident with the handcuffed girl. The sergeant who first investigated the incident found the force used on the girl to be “objectively reasonable” and within department policy.
Finnell, who said the force should be deemed not objectively reasonable and a violation of policy, said the department should also tack on a policy violation for Westlake for knowingly making false statements because his written report of what happened “was not a factual account.”
Harding dismissed the recommendation without addressing the merits of it because Westlake was fired and it “no longer applies.” It’s unclear what Harding would decide if Westlake is reinstated in arbitration.
Auditor asks for officers to be investigated
While the department eventually found that Westlake broke department rules, Sgt. Timothy Shmigal originally approved the force and went to “great lengths to describe the defiant” behavior of the girl and said that she merely “lost her balance.”
The auditor wrote at the time that Shmigal, Lt. Kimberly Williams and Captain Kris 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.”
Finnell asked in his report that the officers be investigated for dishonesty and making false statements related to Westlake, but Harding stated in his response that “disagreeing with the conclusion of an investigation does not arise to the level of making a false statement.” Harding did not address Finnell’s call that they be investigated for failing to supervise Westlake.
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Finnell, in his May report, also indicated a desire for his office to probe Shmigal’s use-of-force investigations. Finnell’s first report, issued weeks earlier, was about the Dierra Fields case, where Shmigal stood by as another officer body slammed and arrested the woman. In that report, the auditor called for Shimgal to be investigated for violating de-escalation policies, for not documenting force, and for failing to “intercede” in the force (Harding rejected that call).
In his May report, Finnell called for tracking and case numbers for all use-of-force investigations completed by Shmigal between January 2021 and February 2024 to “initiate an audit” of the sergeant’s handling of those cases. Harding said in his response that the APD provided the auditor with that information.
Call to review and amend APD’s use-of-force policy
Finnell also called for his office, the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board, and the APD to “work together to review and amend” the department’s use-of-force policy.
Harding agreed and so did Malik, with the two reiterating what they said publicly in the wake of their rejection of Finnell’s report on the Fields case.
“As previously stated, the administration intends to engage in a comprehensive review of the city’s use of force policy to see how it can be strengthened and improved, with involvement from the auditor’s office and oversight board, as well as the public,” Harding said. “We anticipate discussion of this specific issue can be a part of that process.”
Malik’s Tuesday letter to Finnell emphasized the impending general review and did not address the auditor’s other recommendations.
“With respect to the policy/procedural matters you raised in your report,” the mayor stated, “I concur with the Chief that the use of force policy review process will be the best and most appropriate venue to address your concerns. Our administration is actively engaged in the process of securing experts to assist us in developing a comprehensive, meaningful, and inclusive process for improving our use of force policies.”
Finnell told Signal Akron late Tuesday afternoon that he hadn’t fully reviewed Harding’s response so he couldn’t comment on it.