Who is Akron's new top cop? Follow Brian Harding's path from patrol duty to police chief

When a 23-year-old Brian Harding joined the Akron Police Department in 1995, his sight wasn't set on rising to the top of the ranks — he was just looking for a chance to interact with people every day and make a difference.

Now, 29 years later, he has won Mayor Shammas Malik's appointment as chief, stepping into the most ambitious assignment yet for a self-described "people person" with a wide range of experiences on the police force.

In an interview this week with the Beacon Journal, Harding shared his journey through the ranks and his goals for the new role. He acknowledged there will be fewer opportunities for his favorite aspect of police work — those daily interactions that help make people's lives better — while he embraces a broader mission of building trust between the department and the residents its officers are sworn to protect.

"The higher you go up in rank," he said, "the more people you have the opportunity to serve."

New Akron police chief: Akron mayor officially names interim leader Brian Harding as city's new police chief

Brian Harding builds experience during night patrols on Copley Road

After Harding graduated from the police academy in 1995, he spent his early years in the department as a patrol officer.

"I went to our night shift, 7:30 at night till 3:30 in the morning," Harding said. He was trained in the Copley Road area of West Akron.

He saw law enforcement as a path to escape the drudgery of other jobs.

His mother worked in a factory, he said, to provide for her kids after her divorce.

"But she would always talk about how it was the same thing every day and kind of monotonous," said Harding, "and I always kind of looked at that and said I wanted to have an opportunity to do something different every day."

Young Akron officer quickly climbs to supervisor

After five years on patrol, Harding was promoted to sergeant, electing to stay on the night shift as a supervisor.

Eventually, he became a supervisor at the Juvenile Bureau, which investigates incidents of child sexual abuse and neglect, serious crimes committed by and to juveniles, auto thefts and missing persons.

"I tell people it is the best and worst assignment I've ever had, almost 13 years as a sergeant, the juvenile Child Abuse Unit," Harding said. "I guess I'd never really realized some of the awful things that people can do. But I also say it was the best job because when you could really make an impact on a family or a child, I think that's kind of like one of the greatest things we can do."

Harding said he remains committed to that ideal, and currently serves on the board of the Victim Assistance Program.

Range of roles leads to deputy chief assignment

Harding's next promotion was to lieutenant at the department's Office of Professional Standards and Accountability. From there, he moved on as a captain to the Dispatch Center, an experience he calls "eye-opening."

"You know, I always knew what we did in dispatch, but didn't know the number of calls and all the work and all the great work that our dispatchers do every day," Harding said.

He eventually returned to the detective bureau as deputy chief.

Harding said that his time at the police department has changed who he is as a person.

"I mean, from the relationships, the people I've met, the officers I've had a chance to work with, I've learned a lot more about, just, people, and we're all different," Harding said. "I think we all sometimes forget that we all, for the most part, have a lot more in common than we have differences."

New Akron police chief talks about embracing change

As chief, Harding said he hopes to address three areas that he sees as interconnected: community engagement and relationship-building; recruitment, retention and wellness; and crime reduction, specifically violent crime.

Developing good relations with the community feeds into recruitment and retention, he said. He wants to remove barriers between officers and their ability to do the best job they can. He's also seeking to build a culture in which officers feel supported, including securing equipment and additional training, as well as feel encouraged to share ideas.

"Just because I'm the chief doesn't mean I have a better idea than anybody else in department. The best idea can come from a brand new officer that's just thought of something we'd never thought of," Harding said.

He said he believes the department is ready for change, but it's important to characterize change in a way that doesn't make officers feel bad about the work they've done.

Change is about finding a better way to do things, Harding said.

"Change isn't a bad word," he said. "I mean, you're always changing, so let's embrace it, let's look at innovative ways to do that."

Changing the culture won't change some aspects of police work, such as responding to violent crime, he said. "That's our space; that's what we do. But I think how we go about doing it matters, being purposeful and connecting, explaining to people why we do things and the reason we do them."

Harding says newsletter's racist antics can't be tolerated

During a town hall on April 20, Harding was met with questions about the Signal 44 newsletter, an underground bulletin that circulated in the police department dating back to at least 1997. It was the subject of an internal affairs review in 1998 due to the publication's racist nature.

Harding, at the time a new officer, was lampooned in the newsletter's pages for his haircut, and found himself interviewed as part of the internal investigation.

"I was asked if I was offended about what was written about me, and I said I wasn't," Harding said. "I thought what was written about me was funny. I was never asked what I thought about the newsletter in general. My comments were specifically about what was written about me." Regarding Signal 44, he said: "I understand it was racist then, it's racist now. It was wrong then, it's wrong today. We can't, we shouldn't, tolerate that."

Harding said at the town hall that if he were chief at the time, "I would have fired the officer who did it."

Chief seeks chances for officers to engage with community

Much like his own reasons for joining the department, Harding said aspiring officers indicate they want to be police in Akron because they want to help people and make a difference through their service.

"But then we'll bring them out and put them on a night shift patrol and don't give them many of those opportunities," he said. "And then they quickly get into the mindset of going from call to call to call. How do we break that mindset?"

He emphasized during the application process that he wants to create more chances for police to connect with the communities that they serve beyond responding to calls.

He's also looking forward to involving partners throughout the city, including Akron's police union, in the drive toward reforms.

"The FOP has been very open," he said, "and we've started having those conversations. We're excited to continue to have them with the mayor's office, with council with community organizations, with our nonprofits, with our faith-based leaders."

Getting the department on board with making the everyday connections that he's valued since joining the force could be a key part of changing Akron's police culture, he said.

"I'm most excited for how we work together. I'm excited for a lot of the momentum that's going on. I know we have a lot of work to do there. But I really think that we're just not where we need to be. But we're going to work hard to get there, and I'm excited every day to walk in and make an impact."

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New Akron Police Chief Brian Harding talks about his journey, goals