Independent auditor: Akron police used unjustified force body slamming woman during dispute

Akron’s independent police auditor this week issued his first report challenging the Akron Police Department’s internal findings that cleared an officer who used force during a chaotic family argument in Kenmore.

During the ruckus, the officer body-slammed a woman face down while trying to handcuff her.

Police concluded the officer’s actions were justified and praised him for remaining “reserved.”

Anthony Finnell, who started the police auditor job less than a month ago, reached a far different conclusion.

On Thursday, the Akron Citizens’ Police Oversight Board published a nine-page report of Finnell’s findings, along with his suggestions for what the department should do next, including disciplining the officer involved.

The oversight board this week also passed a resolution supporting Finnell’s findings and recommendations.

It was not immediately clear how the city administration and police department would proceed in this uncharted territory. The mayor’s office said it was reviewing Finnell’s report.

This marks the first time the auditor and the oversight board have publicly challenged the Akron police since voters in November 2022 overwhelmingly passed Issue 10 to create a citizens' review board.

There had been calls for better police oversight in Akron for years, but the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker in June 2022 galvanized the community to act.

Since its creation, the oversight board has been heavily occupied with hiring an auditor and establishing rules about how it will function. Some of the board members also started reviewing a backlog of about 200 cases, most of which involved use of force.

Most appeared to line up with the police department’s conclusions and were closed. The board sent about 100 others  — including the Jayland Walker shooting — to Finnell when he started work in March.

The case of the Kenmore woman body-slammed by an officer rose to the top of his pile, Finnell said Thursday, because it was the focus of media reports, which sparked a lot of questions from the community.

Additionally, Akron police had also completed their own internal investigation into the case, a hurdle that has to happen before Finnell can conduct an audit.

The one thing Finnell and Akron police agree on in this case is that Akron police were called into a loud and chaotic situation in Kenmore Jan. 11.

What happened when Akron police were called to sort a family fight in Kenmore?

A man in Kenmore called Akron police to get his adult daughter, who lives with him and his partner, out of his home.

According to Finnell’s report, this is what happened next:

“Officer [Thomas] Shoemaker found himself in a situation where multiple parties were irate and arguing with one another,” the report said.

He separated the people arguing, including a juvenile, but taunts and banter continued “in very loud voices.”

The man who called police said he wanted his 24-year-old daughter out of the home. When the woman tried to get her purse and coat to leave, Shoemaker told her she would be arrested if she left the house.

When she asked the officer why she would be arrested, he did not respond, the report said.

The man who called police, meanwhile, had a medical emergency. The officer called for EMS and rolled the man onto his side. Sgt. Timothy Shmigal arrived soon thereafter.

Before EMS arrived, a juvenile in the house “began to scream, curse, stand on the sofa and refused to be quiet” despite her grandmother’s pleas to calm down, the report said.

“Officer Shoemaker pushed [the juvenile] down on the sofa while yelling 'Sit the f*** down. If you get up again, you’re getting arrested,'” the report said.

The juvenile apparently ignored the threat, rising to her feet and climbing to stand on the sofa again, the report said.

Amid the chaos, the man’s partner asked Shoemaker to let the 24-year-old leave so she and Shoemaker could speak. Shoemaker, the report said, “ignored her request,” and the juvenile began to scream again while the 24-year-old “was standing quietly behind a chair on the other side of the room.”

It’s not clear why, but Shoemaker crossed the room and began putting handcuffs on the 24-year-old “instead of turning around to place [the juvenile] in handcuffs and gain control of the situation,” Finnell’s report said.

Shoemaker didn’t tell the woman why he was placing her in cuffs. “He simply grabbed [her] arms and placed them behind her back,” the report said.

The woman offered to sit outside in her vehicle with her kids, but Shoemaker declined.

During this exchange, Shoemaker released the woman’s right wrist to adjust the handcuffs, then released her left wrist. “Without provocation by [the woman], Officer Shoemaker grabbed both of her arms, lifted her up and threw her face first toward the ground in an abrupt and aggressive manner,” the report said.

Shoemaker then put the woman in a kneeling position, holding her down with his body weight to finish putting on the cuffs. Afterward, he escorted her outside and into the back of his police cruiser, Finnell’s report said.

After other police interviewed the woman and a “prolonged discussion” among officers, they decided to issue a summons to the woman, charging her with obstructing official business and resisting arrest, the report said.

Akron police conclusion vs. Akron police auditor conclusion

An Akron police internal affairs investigation concluded that “Officer Shoemaker’s actions were not only justified but reserved as well,” an internal report said. “It would have been very easy for someone in the same situation to lose their patience and react in [a] way that would reflect poorly on the Akron Police Department.”

Finnell reached an entirely different conclusion, stating that it was unnecessary to handcuff the woman, let alone body slam her.

“To me, the use of force was just over the top,” Finnell said during an interview Thursday, adding that Shoemaker “looks like someone who had lost control.”

In his report, Finnell wondered why Shoemaker handcuffed the woman while it was the juvenile who was ignoring orders and screaming.

“Officer Shoemaker failed to use non-confrontational verbal skills, empathy or active listening, but instead used the opposite, to include vulgar profanity,” Finnell’s report said.

“The reason police were there was to develop calm and calm the situation down,” Finnell said during an interview. “In my opinion, it went on way too long to take the necessary steps to calm things down.”

Shoemaker’s words and actions instead were a “source of the continued chaos” during the incident, Finnell’s report said.

Among other things, Finnell concluded Shoemaker used unreasonable force and should be disciplined.

He also suggested internal affairs launch two additional investigations into Shoemaker and Shmigal for violating department policy.

Shoemaker, the report said, should be investigated for violating procedures connected to domestic violence, taking people into custody, de-escalation and failure to document shoving the juvenile down onto the couch — a second use of force during the incident.

Shmigal should be investigated for failing to document the second use of force, too, but also for failing to intervene when he witnessed Shoemaker putting the woman into cuffs, Finnell wrote.

The police oversight board Thursday posted the report on its website, where people can also watch videos of past meetings, look at agendas of upcoming meetings and file complaints.

The president of the union that represents Akron police officers did not immediately return a message seeking comment about the auditor's findings.

Shoemaker has faced scrutiny for actions before

This isn't the first time Shoemaker's on-duty actions have drawn scrutiny.

After the fatal Jayland Walker shooting, a video of Shoemaker repeatedly punching a protester in the face went viral.

Police charged that protester, Michael Harris of North Carolina, with misdemeanor rioting. An Akron jury acquitted Harris in February.

Harris and others arrested during the protests over Jayland Walker's death, meanwhile, filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Akron and several police officers, including Shoemaker.

Among other things, the suit said Shoemaker "threw five rapid, upper-cut style punches" at Harris's face as other officers had his arms pinned behind his back.

A couple of weeks before Harris was acquitted, the city of Akron settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay $747,000.

It wasn't immediately clear what the police department found in its internal investigation into Shoemaker's use of force against Harris. The Beacon Journal Friday renewed a request for those records.

How did Akron police auditor reach such a different conclusion?

Police oversight board member Robert Gippin Thursday called the auditor’s report a “very, very important first step.”

“We believe it was keeping faith with the voters who passed Issue 10,” he said. “The fact that our new auditor was able to do the work and produce this excellent report in a very timely manner demonstrates he was just the absolutely best choice as an auditor and the city is very lucky to have him.”

Finnell, a retired police officer, said he looks at cases “from the lens of community and take in consideration officers’ perspective.”

When he puts together his audit, he said he looks at what the law says, what police department policy is, what the officers involved have said in their reports and body camera footage.

“Then I try to look at it not as a police officer or a supervisor…just an individual weighing” what happened, Finnell said.

As time passes in Akron, Finnell said he hopes to keep all of his reports online so people can find them. He’ll also be starting a database tracking any recurring problems that might need policy changes or other intervention.

The goal, Finnell said, is to make things better for both police and the community they serve.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Auditor says Akron officer should be disciplined after body slamming woman