Independent Police Auditor Anthony Finnell has launched an investigation into the shooting death of Jayland Walker that occurred during a June 27, 2022, encounter with Akron police.
Finnell’s position — as well as the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board that hired him — was created in the wake of Walker’s death by an amendment to the City Charter that is intended to increase scrutiny on use-of-force incidents by Akron police.
“We owe it to the community to look at this case and give it an independent review,” said Finnell, who in March became Akron’s first independent police auditor.
“We owe it to his family.”
Eight police officers fired 94 rounds at Walker, striking him 46 times, after a car chase and brief foot pursuit. The killing, and the exoneration of the officers who killed him, led to widespread protests in the city.
In November, members of the CPOB called for a “rigorous review” of then-Chief Stephen Mylett’s findings that the officers who shot Walker did not violate department policy. That investigation was delayed as the board pursued its first set of rules passed by Akron City Council and hired Finnell to lead investigations into police misconduct and potential policy changes.
Now, Finnell said he has the capacity to start gathering documents and videos from the APD’s internal investigation and that his probe will intensify when a deputy auditor is hired in the coming weeks. He and CPOB members interviewed two deputy auditor candidates in a private executive session during Wednesday evening’s meeting.
“I need to have my deputy on board because this isn’t going to be a one-person job,” Finnell said. “It’s going to be an all-hands-on-deck-type job because I want the different perspectives and because of the volume of information. I need the extra set of eyes to examine everything.”
Finnell stressed that his investigation is still in its early stages and that he still does not have access to all the files he needs to conduct it properly.
“I have no opinion one way or the other because I don’t have everything,” he said. “… I’m asking people to have patience and come to our meetings and be a part of the process to help us along. Understand we are doing the work.”
Back in November, the CPOB released a statement saying files from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s examination of the shooting will be reviewed, as well as the full internal affairs investigation that Mylett used to clear the eight officers.
The board then said it would review if “discipline is warranted.” They would also examine if any of the policies that Mylett said weren’t violated should be updated or changed, while also examining the appropriateness and standards of the use-of-force policy and the appropriateness of the APD’s “command and control” of the incident.
