The Akron Police Department completed its internal policy investigation into the Nov. 28, 2024, killing of Jazmir Tucker. More than 600 days after the killing, it is now in the middle of a disciplinary process against Davon Fields, the officer who killed the 15 year old.
The City of Akron wants to fire Fields, according to a seething social media post from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge # 7. Union President Brian Lucey said the city is accusing Fields of violating policy by not activating his body camera before shooting Tucker amid other violations like “failing to take appropriate action and of conduct unbecoming of an officer.”
Defending an ongoing federal lawsuit over the shooting, city lawyers say the killing itself “was a reasonable use of deadly force.”
Fields and his partner claimed they heard gunshots in the distance that night, grabbed their rifles from the rack in their cruiser, and approached Tucker, who they spotted walking away near Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts on East Avenue.
They did not activate their body cameras. The cameras were activated automatically when other cars arrived on the scene, but too late to meaningfully document the lead up to the shooting.
Fields shot Tucker twice in the back as cruisers sped to the scene from the other direction. Officers waited more than 7 minutes to approach the dying teenager, later discovering a handgun zipped away deep in his jacket pocket.
After returning to duty in October 2025, immediately after a grand jury declined to indict him, Fields is currently on administrative leave while under criminal investigation by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. A police report obtained by Signal Akron details that Fields was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in Akron on May 2.
Signal Akron has an open records request with the city for documents detailing the investigation and disciplinary actions related to Fields.
Union says termination effort is ‘padded’ with sexual assault allegations
The police union says the city wrongly “padded” its termination effort with that case, since it is still open and the allegations of wrongdoing in the Tucker shooting alone wouldn’t be enough to justify firing Fields.
“If Mayor Malik moves forward with this unjust termination, built on a predetermined conclusion that throws away a grand jury’s decision and his own department’s findings, the FOP will fight it. And we’ll win,” Lucey wrote on Facebook. “Officer Fields ran toward gunfire to protect the people of this city. The FOP will protect him.”
The City of Akron’s spokesperson confirmed ongoing disciplinary proceedings against Fields and another officer but did not elaborate on the alleged violations. The city said that the two officers were given notice of disciplinary charges on June 28 and that a pre-disciplinary hearing occurred on Aug. 4.
Sources told Signal Akron the outcome of that hearing, and the city’s final decision, could be imminent.
Firing likely to lead to protracted battle between city and union
Lucey argued that, because a grand jury didn’t indict Fields for murder — the lone criminal charge outside prosecutors allowed the grand jury to consider in October of 2025 — he should not face administrative repercussions for any procedural violations that night.
The disciplinary effort is “politics at its worst,” Lucey said. He claimed Akron Mayor Shammas Malik is “sticking his thumb in the eye of the grand jurors.”
If the city fires Fields, it will likely lead to a protracted battle with the Fraternal Order of Police, who will seek for him to be reinstated based on different interpretations of an article in the collective bargaining agreement.
Lucey argued that because Fields wasn’t notified of disciplinary action within the 120-day window required for most policy violations, the firing would be invalid. The city will argue the 120-day window doesn’t apply to officers who are placed on paid administrative leave, which includes the automatic process for officers who shoot people.
