The Akron Police Department is promoting two veteran captains to the deputy chief rank and arranging units within the department with the stated goal of improving community policing, according to a news release sent by the mayor’s office.
With the promotions of captains Michael Miller and Agostino Micozzi, the roster of the second-highest rank within the APD has doubled. Since Akron Mayor Shammas Malik was sworn in last year, the number of officers in the rank has quadrupled with the filling of the vacant budgeted positions.
Miller, who remains the highest-ranking Black employee in the department, and Micozzi join David Laughlin and Jesse Leeser as the four deputy chiefs under Chief Brian Harding.
Malik promoted Harding from deputy chief to chief last year after shutting down a national search after he learned of a state law he says requires him to hire internally from the rank below. If only one candidate from the rank below applies, lower-ranked candidates could be considered.
That law applies to deputy chiefs – Miller and Micozzi join Laughlin as captains promoted to the rank from within the department during Malik’s term.
Following Malik’s appointment of Harding last year – controversial to many because two white men were the only candidates considered – the mayor unsuccessfully sought a $400,000 buyout of Leeser from the department to help with “changing the culture” within the APD and bringing in “new perspectives and ultimately new leaders to enter into the leadership.”
With the recent promotions, the five highest-ranking members of the APD have collectively worked for the department for 51,884 days, an average of 28.4 years each, according to the state attorney general’s database of law enforcement officers.
Only Miller has experience in another department; he spent several years with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office in the late 1990s before joining the APD.
Miller to head new Community Relations and Crime Prevention subdivision
Miller has been the department’s spokesperson and is one of the most visible police officials in the city, where he regularly attends community events and public meetings, including meetings held by the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board.
The 25-year veteran of the APD will oversee a new subdivision called Community Relations and Crime Prevention. The city says that division will include school resource officers, the community engagement team, the Office of Professional Standards and Accountability (also known as internal affairs) and other units.
“Strengthening trust between residents and our officers is critical, and having a subdivision focused on engagement with the community and preventing crime will assist in that effort,” Malik said of the new subdivision headed by Miller.
“Community engagement is a focus that has been key throughout the first year of our administration and this restructuring is the next step in that process,” he said in the release. “I congratulate each of these men on their well-deserved promotions and I look forward to what APD will accomplish under their collective leadership.”
Micozzi, who served as the commander of the administrative services bureau and oversaw the training bureau, will serve in a similar role. He will oversee the services subdivision, which handles budgeting, training, equipment and other responsibilities.
Laughlin oversees the investigative subdivision, which “is responsible for investigating crimes, apprehending offenders, processing crime scenes, recovering stolen property and preparing cases for trial.”
Leeser oversees the uniform subdivision, which is divided into the patrol bureau, with officers responding to calls, and the traffic bureau.