Residents, advocacy groups press Akron council for police use-of-force review as council appoints oversight board members

During a meeting of the Akron City Council, residents and local advocacy groups urged the council to push for an independent review of the Akron Police Department’s use-of-force policy and voiced frustrations with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Council members voted to appoint new members to the city’s police oversight board and approved several committee recommendations related to oversight.

The public comment period featured multiple speakers describing police violence and racial disparities in enforcement. “Support the review. What was the review tells us that African American men and boys are treated more hardship than white men and boys? And that is something we wanna know and try to do something about,” said a speaker at the podium during public comment. Tasha Mills, who identified herself as the founder of Healing Mothers, described losing her son to gun violence…