Akron Mayor Shammas Malik affirmed on Wednesday that he agreed with Police Chief Brian Harding’s finding that officers’ actions in the controversial body slam and arrest of Dierra Fields were objectively reasonable and consistent with Akron Police Department standards. He also agreed the officers should not face disciplinary action.
Malik also firmly dismissed calls to oust Harding, reiterating during a press conference his support for the police chief he promoted earlier this year in a heavily criticized internal-only process.
Racial justice advocates, along with an Akron City Council member called last week for Harding to resign or be fired in the wake of the chief’s recent rejection of Independent Police Auditor Anthony Finnell’s report. That report, the first issued by Finnell, called for an investigation into and disciplinary action for the officers involved in the body slam incident.
Shortly after the press conference ended, a collective of Akron-area religious leaders released a statement criticizing the city and police chief for their handling of the Fields’ case. The statement supported legal action “to bring about accountability.”
Malik said siding with the police department’s original determination on the case, which found that Officer Thomas Shoemaker’s actions were objectively reasonable and restrained when he body slammed Fields, is not inconsistent with his previous calls for police accountability and systemic change in how the department interacts with Black residents.
He said the Fields incident can be used to instigate “important dialogue” with Finnell, the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board, Harding and the community to change the use-of-force policy that he said permitted the body slam in the first place.
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“In my mind and judgment, we need to do a comprehensive policy review into our use-of-force policy,” he said. “We need to find ways to strengthen and improve that policy to highlight the type of policing that we want to see and to make bad outcomes like this less likely.… This review is the way that we have lasting, meaningful change on this issue. I want us to have real discussion as a community about what we want to see from our officers.”
Malik, who was made aware of the January incident by March, did not respond to Finnell’s April report on the case until late last month. He said use of force policy has been a priority for his administration “for quite some time” and that he will provide details about a community conversation in the coming weeks.
Akron clergy group sides with Dierra Fields, against police chief
A collective of more than 150 Akron-area religious leaders released a statement following Malik’s press conference supporting Fields and criticizing the city’s lack of action and accountability in her case.
“Dierra Fields and her family are members of that community in which we serve,” said the statement from the Greater Akron Fellowship of Clergy. “Members of the GAFC have seen the body worn camera video, are aware of the Independent Auditor’s use-of-force report and know that a jury of her peers found Dierra did no wrong. Yet no action or accountability has been taken.”
The GAFC statement, sent by Pastor Kevin Rushing of United Baptist Church Ministries, said the group has been working with Malik and Harding to “address concerns that citizens in our communities have” about policing. The group will no longer engage with Harding, the statement said, because “action and accountability have been lacking.”
“The time for inaction has ended,” the statement concluded. “The request for more patience has passed. Dierra deserved better. Her family deserved better. We deserve better.”
Dierra Fields’ attorney responds
Attorney and organizer Imokhai Okolo successfully represented Fields in her criminal trial when she was prosecuted by City of Akron lawyers for resisting arrest and obstructing official business. Okolo said he will represent Fields in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.
On Monday, he said the Malik administration’s rejection of the auditor’s report on the Fields case “is a clear insult to our intelligence” and sends a message to every Akron officer “that they can physically assault Black women in this city and nothing will happen.”
Fields’ attorney watched a livestream of Malik’s press conference and expressed disdain about the mayor’s emphasis on new “community conversations” before he takes action on issues that have long been raised. Malik made a similar plea when he was Akron’s Ward 8 council member for “community dialogue” on policing and race in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in 2020.
“This is a prime example of how the system is designed to keep the violence going while politicians fool you into believing change is happening,” Okolo said. “What are we talking about that we haven’t already talked about? We have had the conversations. The time for action is now.”
