Police Reform in Akron, Ohio: Moving to Take a Step Forward
The Police Executive Research Forum recently completed a use-of-force review of the Akron Police Department — 58 recommendations covering policy, training, accountability, and community engagement.
It’s serious work, and Mayor Shammas Malik deserves credit for commissioning it and committing to implementation. But as I read through the findings, I kept thinking: haven’t we’ve been here before?
The report flags something that should alarm every citizen who cares about police accountability. When PERF interviewed Akron officers at every rank, they heard the same legal standard cited again and again — Graham v. Connor, the 1989 Supreme Court ruling that officers should be judged by whether a “reasonable” officer would have acted the same way.
PERF noted it was rare, in hundreds of management studies, to hear officers spontaneously invoke Graham at all — let alone in every single interview. What does that tell us? It tells us that the department has quietly adopted minimum legal protection as its operational philosophy. That’s a floor, not a ceiling.
PERF is right to push for a “sanctity of life” framework instead. The difference matters enormously. One asks, could we legally justify this? The other asks, did we do everything possible to preserve life?
The numbers bear this out. In 2024, supervisors reviewed 301 use-of-force incidents involving 773 officers — and found exactly one policy violation. Less than one percent. That strains credulity. Accountability cannot live inside a system designed to protect everyone equally, regardless of rank or conduct.
These are not Akron’s problems alone. They are American policing’s problems. Graham is cited in departments from coast to coast as a shield rather than a minimum standard. Police unions routinely blur the line between worker protection and obstruction of accountability. And use-of-force reviews — however well-intentioned — too often find what the system is designed to let them find: very little wrongdoing.
Then there’s the matter of the union structure. Akron’s FOP Lodge #7 represents every sworn officer — from rookies to captains. PERF called this unusual among large Ohio departments and “not best practice.” The reason is straightforward: when supervisors belong to the same bargaining unit as the officers they’re supposed to discipline and evaluate, objectivity becomes nearly impossible.
The PERF report is a good roadmap. But a roadmap only matters if someone has the courage to drive it — and if the institutional forces arrayed against change don’t quietly steer the car into a ditch
Read the local news report HERE
The PERF report identifies a total of 58 recommendations that fall into these five categories:
1. Modernizing use-of-force policies
2. Strengthening transparency and public accountability
3. Improving investigations, oversight and critical incident review
4. Building an organizational mindset of training, judgment and de‑escalation
5. Enhancing safety, medical response and organizational capacity
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 