A former village police chief repeatedly hired to help the city’s lawyers defend federal lawsuits against the Akron Police Department, frequently writes articles and appears in interviews on police advocacy websites.
Tim Barfield, the former police chief of Wellington in Lorain County, has stated that officers should kill without hesitation, that Black Lives Matter activists are terrorists and that Black people have “broken values” and a “victim mentality” couched in claims of discrimination.
The following are additional quotes from Barfield, along with links to the interviews, articles and posts in which they appear.
“You have to be alive to be in trouble.” – Police1, Oct. 2015
“Thugs and bullies who are being memorialized as heroes and those who stand in the gap to keep evil from triumphing over good people are now demonized.” – Law Officer, March 2016
“The amount of crime committed by black males is such a statistical bias that it is almost without comprehension.” – Law Officer, July 2018
“Those who hold to leftist ideology are trying to undermine the American ideal.” – Law Officer, Feb. 2019
“What???!!!!! So hands up don’t shoot is a lie, profiling is a lie, police are racist is a lie, police kill people for no reason is a lie………maybe the problem isn’t the police. Maybe, just maybe there might be issues in society or culture that are problematic?” – Facebook, March 2019
“So please don’t be misled by those cowards who want a guardian. I have always considered myself a Warrior and guarding you is just a part of what I do. I also do violence on your behalf protecting the weak from the evil. Evil vs. Good is a war and it takes a warrior to look evil in the eye, be prepared to fight for you and even to die for you. Those who attack a warrior are cowards or evil. Neither is acceptable in my worldview.” – Law Officer, Dec. 2019
“The narrative of excessive use of force and racism has been declared so long now that people have either weakened and refuse to defend the truth or they have begun to believe the lies. Study after study concludes there is no evidence of widespread bias in police. Regardless, police chiefs have kneeled, laid down and sold out their troops to appease the lies.” – Law Officer, June 2020
“In almost every use-of-force incident that has caused death, injury or public outcry, submission to the arrest would have saved a life, violence or bad public relations for everyone.” – Police 1, June 2020
“I believe cops do the right thing almost all the time.” – International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Nov. 2023
