Police auditor's first findings put Akron in unexplored territory. What happens now?

Akron City Council and Mayor Shammas Malik's administration are trying to figure out what to do with Independent Police Auditor Anthony Finnell's first set of recommendations since being hired by the Citizens' Police Oversight Board.

The city's police union, meanwhile, has challenged the validity of Finnell's findings.

In a report released last week, Finnell determined that Akron Police Department officer Thomas Shoemaker body-slamming a woman in Kenmore before arresting her was objectionably unreasonable, countering the department's internal finding that Shoemaker's actions were justified.

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

Akron City Council President Margo Sommerville said the city law department told her that council's role in the process is unclear.

"The reality of it is, is that Akron City Council is in uncharted waters," Sommerville said. "The vagueness of the charter does not specifically give Akron City Council any role in the review of the police auditor's report. It's going to be ultimately up to the mayor and chief in terms of whether they follow up on the recommendations provided."

City spokeswoman Stephanie Marsh, in an email to the Beacon Journal, wrote that the mayor's office received Finnell's recommendations and is reviewing his report.

"Mayor Malik has briefly discussed the findings with Chief [Brian] Harding but there is no definitive timeline we can share at this time," Marsh wrote. "We take Mr. Finnell’s recommendations seriously and will give his report a thorough review."

Judi Hill, president of the Akron NAACP and one of the architects of Issue 10, which created the oversight board, said there isn't anything in the charter language outlining what the next steps are because the goal was to avoid stifling the board by overprescribing its procedures.

It was left open-ended, she said, so that City Council and the administration would be able to collaborate on the best way to move forward with the auditor's recommendations. After the passage of Issue 10, however, and while the board was beginning to craft its rules, procedural questions took a back seat to questions about the board's authority, she said.

Hill said the board having its own legal counsel independent from the city would help matters — something she advocated for from the beginning.

"We gave them the skeleton. We gave them the framework," Hill said. "Our job wasn't to craft it so that it had every piece and part of it. I don't think there's any legislation that's done that way."

In addition to recommending discipline for Shoemaker, Finnell also suggested that APD launch an additional internal affairs investigations into Shoemaker and Sgt. Timothy Shmigal over possible policy violations, including failing to document and report additional use of force incidents.

FOP responds

The Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 released a statement strongly objecting to the police auditor's findings, saying Finnell "has no authority to comment on or determine if someone should be charged with a crime."

But Akron voters overwhelmingly passed Issue 10 in November 2022, creating the Citizens' Police Oversight Board and investing an independent police auditor with investigative and advisory powers. The amended Akron City Charter states such oversight "shall include but not be limited to the receipt of complaints from the public alleging misconduct by members of the Division of Police, the investigation of alleged misconduct by members of the Division of Police, and the reporting of findings and recommendations concerning alleged misconduct by members of the Division of Police to the Mayor and Council."

The charter further says that upon a two-thirds majority vote from the oversight board, the board and the police auditor can initiate "investigations of the operations and policies of the Division of Police and of police officer conduct and report its findings and make recommendations to the Mayor and Council."

The Beacon Journal reached out for an opinion from the city law department as to whether Finnell was acting outside the scope of his duties, as the FOP claims, on the body slam probe. Marsh said it's rare that the law department issues a legal opinion publicly and referred the Beacon back to the charter language.

The FOP statement also said that despite Finnell's conclusion, a use-of-force investigation was properly conducted at the scene.

The Beacon Journal has requested the materials generated by that on-scene investigation.

In his report, Finnell wrote that he didn't believe Shoemaker had cause to detain the woman or arrest her for resisting arrest because Shoemaker failed to pacify the situation.

The FOP statement said Finnell does not grasp the challenges a police officer is up against while trying to restore order.

"Everyone throws the word de-escalate around like it is magic fairy dust," the FOP wrote, noting that subjects do not always cooperate with such tactics. "Despite police officer's best efforts sometimes verbal de-escalation does not work."

The FOP's statement asks if Finnell contacted the Malik or Acting Police Chief Brian Harding before releasing his findings.

Marsh said in an email that Finnell submitted his report to Malik, Harding, Law Director Deborah Matz, Deputy Law Director Brian Angeloni, Chief of Strategy Nanette Pitt and the police board on the evening of April 17 before making the report available to the public the next day on the police board's website.

"So now," Finnell said, "it's in their hands to proceed as they see fit."

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

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police auditor system faces 1st big test with body slam arrest