Residents Press Canton Council on Police Response and Urge Reforms as Substation Donations Move Forward

Several Canton residents used the council’s public-comment period to press elected officials on police accountability and emergency response, saying symbolic acts are insufficient without policy changes.

At the start of committee meetings, council advanced an ordinance authorizing the mayor or director of public safety to accept donations totaling up to $115,000 for furnishings and fit-out of a downtown police substation. A council member said downtown investors voluntarily contributed the funds and described the amount as intended to buy furniture and related items for the substation.

In public comment later that evening, resident Amy Rowe detailed repeated delays in police response at a neighbor’s address, saying officers arrived 35 minutes after a May 22 call and were slow to respond on subsequent calls. "We call the police expecting a quicker response than this," Rowe said, adding that repeated delays have shaken residents’ confidence in the Canton City Police Department.

Resident Skylark Bruce told council the downtown substation "was never an emergency" and urged stronger, binding policy changes rather than statements of sympathy. Bruce called for ordinances that would "make it impossible" for officers fired for misconduct to be rehired and suggested the council withhold funding when departmental actions are not aligned with public safety goals. "These actions by Scherer and Cooks can point to empathy, but in the absence of real leadership, they're like Band-Aids," she said.

Other speakers recounted broader grievances about court and police interactions. Daniel Gates accused a city employee of falsifying paperwork related to his family's property case and said his father had been harassed over several years; Justin Nicely raised multiple allegations about policing and court procedures and urged full transparency, at times speaking angrily about what he said were systemic harms. Roger Gates asked council members to meet residents where they live and listen to local concerns.

City staff and council did not provide a policy response during the public-comments segment beyond recording the remarks. The ordinance enabling the city to accept the downtown substation donations remained on the agenda as an emergency measure for later consideration.

The council's next steps for police oversight and any formal legislative response were not stated during the meeting; residents at the microphone called for explicit rule changes and clarified processes they said would limit rehiring or funding when misconduct occurs.