A Peek Behind the Curtain of Akron's City Council Meetings

Foreign.

It's the Akron Podcast for February 10, 2025.

Our website, akronpodcast.com all right, this is kind of a different episode I went out to.

Turns out you can look at and watch Akron City Council meetings, and they open it up by letting people from the public, and you have to kind of, you know, plan this in advance, and you only have so many minutes to state what you want to voice publicly to the Akron City Council.

Now, as someone who taught customer service for years, the worst thing you can do is ask your customers for feedback and then ignore it.

And I'm not saying they ignore it, but it's weird because I'm going to play today.

That's all.

It's on the show today.

I've got some news.

We'll talk about that on Wednesday.

But if you've ever wondered what's going on.

And these are people that are talking about the police, and they are very blunt and forward and well prepared.

And when they get done, there are three people, they say their thing and they're like, okay, thus ends this and moving on to the next.

And they don't even, like, go.

I mean, they're not rude.

It's just weird that there's no, like, oh, you know, you brought up this person being shot.

Let's talk about.

No, it's just you get to voice your opinion, and then they move on.

And it's a very weird thing.

And so I thought I would play this for you today.

This is from February 3, 2025.

Could you please raise your right hand?

Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you give will be the truth?

If so, please say, I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just going to ask.

When you hear your name, please approach the podium and you will have three minutes to speak to this body.

And we're going to begin with Jennifer Boswell.

Good evening.

I'm here today to urge the council to move forward in some way on the proposal for a comprehensive review of the Akron Police Department use of force policy.

The proposal was presented to council on December 16.

Since then, the Public Safety Committee has failed to hold any discussion on the matter.

I hope it is obvious to council members that the use of force policy is desperately in need of revision.

The current policy uses a standard meant to be used in court proceedings rather than one designed to best serve the community.

The Office of the Independent Police Auditor consistently offers to work together with the Civilian Police Oversight Board and Akron Police Department to review and amend the use of force policy to improve outcomes.

The Akron Police Department continues to be involved in uses of force, including deadly force, that alarm the community.

The need for this review may have been years in the making, but what's happened recently has made this an urgent matter.

Let's look at one example.

Just over a year ago, an officer essentially assaulted Dierra Fields during a family dispute that could and should have been peacefully resolved.

The officer entirely mishandled the call, including ignoring the request of the citizen who called for service.

The sergeant on the scene failed to intervene.

Then they failed to make a truthful report of the incident.

Internal affairs failed to assign any accountability.

The city prosecutor's Office then charged Ms.

Fields and offered her a plea bargain in an unsuccessful attempt to insulate the city from a lawsuit for excessive force.

Rather than pursuing justice, the mayor and the police chief declined to heed the police auditor's review and hid behind their understanding of the use of force policy.

In the years since the incident with Ms.

Fields, APD has been involved in other uses of force, some deadly under questionable circumstances.

In December, the mayor stepped forward to offer what he views as the path forward, an outside review by a highly regarded consultant.

His proposal comes with a hefty price tag, which does indeed require due consideration.

However, rather than discussing the proposal in committee or calling for public hearing, the Public Safety Committee has not engaged in any consideration of the proposal.

If the committee doesn't like the idea of an external review, they should vote the proposal down and propose their own solution.

If the committee doesn't like the price tag, they should vote the proposal down and advise what figure they think is reasonable.

If the committee doesn't like the particular consultant, they can require the contract be put out for bid.

If the committee is conflicted due to relationships with the Akron Police Department, it should move for this matter to be taken up by a special committee of the council or the committee of a whole.

This body needs to do something.

The longer it takes to get the review started, the longer it will take for the community and for the Akron Police Department to benefit from its final form.

Thank you so much, Mrs.

Boswell.

Lucy Harris.

Hello.

My name is Lucy Harris.

Thank you.

Since November, there has abandoned a debate whether or not officers involved should be relieved of their duty following the murder of Jasmir Tucker.

My question is, why is it a debate?

Why is it a question?

As a civil servant, you took an oath to protect and serve, not harass and murder.

Having a badge does not give you the right to be all branches of the law.

If you work in law enforcement, you have an obligation to be even more ethically and morally upstanding than the ones who you promised to protect, not less.

Why should anyone feel they need to obey the laws of Akron if the Akron police does not obey the laws?

Why should anyone feel safe if Akron police are just as criminal, if not more than the ones that you lock up?

I see all the time that apd, because of a badge and a gun, break laws without much thought.

Did you join APD because you wanted to serve and protect or because you were bullied in school and need power without brains?

As I stand here today and I look at the lot of you, all I see are felons supporting felons.

Have the week you deserve and justice for Jasmir.

Thank you, Mrs.

Harris.

Autumn Riddle.

Hello, I'm Autumn Riddle.

I'm a resident of Akron.

I was one of the attendees at the council meeting at 12:16 when the FOP brought their brothers in attendance.

I just want to know why it's not being told to the community who some of these brothers were.

The only one that's causing this division is going to be Brian, Lucy, the fop.

The brothers who attended were.

Let's first start with Matthew.

I'm sorry, Muhammad Estefan's killer.

Acres.

Let's start with Katie Sweeney, who killed Jalen Walker.

We also have Corey, who killed Jaylon Walker, who sat back there.

And last but not least, the killer of Mike Brown.

Not forget, they also had members of Tango 22 back there.

We are well aware of the gang, and we in the community are the people.

We're a threat.

I don't understand how city council isn't aware of this gang being more worried about stray dogs and cats versus an officer who acted as a coward and shot a 15 year old in his back.

And let's keep in mind, he is still on paid leave.

If you're afraid of black people, you should not be a cop.

Lucy continues to intimidate the members of the community as the FOP and the brothers laughed at Jasmir's mother as she stood there holding his picture.

My sister was sitting in the back next to one of the officers and she just tried to make conversation and said, hey, are you from Akron?

Well, he ignored her, so she tapped him on the shoulder and she asked him again.

He said, I don't have to tell you anything, but these are officers who you want us to trust and to have, or to think that they're even going to be on our side.

Make it make sense.

Counsel Garrett, the community, we love you.

We appreciate you.

We appreciate you trying to come to Like a reconciliation, whatever with city council with that agreement.

However, nowhere in that letter does it state that APD murdered Jasmir or that he was shot in the back by police when he never brandished a weapon.

There is still not any accountability being placed on Akron police for this tragedy.

Nowhere does it address Officer fields killed a 15 year old with his own rifle and is still on the paid leave all the quiet members.

Honestly, I hope you get voted out.

I'm embarrassed for my own.

My own Little District 7.

It's just embarrassing that you're more worried about animals versus the cops killing people in our community.

Justice for Jasmir Tucker.

Thank you, Autumn.

I have pictures from everybody of all the murderers that were here.

You could provide those to Councilman Bold in there.

He'll make sure we get them.

Thank you, Reverend John Beatty.

Madam President, members of the council, we are in crisis.

Our immigrant families are being terrorized in Akron.

If Russia and China did what Elon Musk and Trump have done to the US in the last two weeks since inauguration, we would be bombing them.

Indeed, Russia and China have brought the USA to its knees to their sycophant, President Trump and immigrant billionaire Musk.

Thanks to Trump and his billionaire oligarchs, we have lost our national security, our constitutional rule of law, and our sense of purpose as a democratic society.

Instead of making America great again, we are very far along at making America weak again.

Jesus once said, a house divided cannot stand.

No longer are we one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Last Saturday there was a protest rally a few blocks away in support of the family of Jasmine Tucker.

In support of LGBTQ rights, in support of immigrant rights, labor rights, in support of Palestinian rights.

We shut down downtown Akron peacefully and safely without the help of a single visible Akron police person.

At that rally, a friend of mine sent a memo to Elon Musk.

Musk.

Actually he sent it to me a couple years earlier.

But it was great to see him again.

10 Symptoms of Woke Mind virus.

You read books and don't burn them.

You embrace science instead of whatever you are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.

Number four.

You understand what most issues that most issues aren't black and white.

5.

You believe in true equality for all people.

Not just some, not just a certain color.

You like to share just as you were taught in kindergarten.

If you're I didn't have kindergarten because I was too.

I was born before they had kindergarten.

You embrace cooperation.

You respect others rights.

You believe culture and the Arts have value.

You care for the planet and all of its life.

If any of you would like to have a copy of 10 Symptoms of Woke Virus, I'm going to hand it to my councilman and thank you.

Thank you, Reverend Beatty.

That concludes our public comment period for this evening.

We do want to thank all those who took the time to come down and to participate.

Council, before you, is the consent agenda.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

All in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The eyes have it.

The consent agenda passes 13 to zero.

And so they move on to old business.

And I guess in a way, if they open it up and started debating, it could get ugly, it could get nasty.

So I kind of.

I just thought it was odd.

I really just thought it was very odd.

And so I will.

This is my first time really examining Akron City Council, and I'm gonna watch the rest of this video now.

They do these weekly, which means there's a new one today.

But I'm gonna start watching these just to see what's going on, because in reality, these are people that we have elected to do what we want with our money in our name.

Right?

Am I wrong on that?

This is people that we elected, and they have a budget, and we want to watch what they're doing with our money from our taxes in our name.

And so I'm going to start paying attention to these when I can.

And I just thought I would give you a glimpse of what people are saying about, you know, our neighbors, what our neighbors are saying about our city to our council so that the council can't go, oh, well, we had no idea that was going on.

And it will be interesting to see how this moves forward.

So this is the kind of stuff I want to kind of get into with the Akron podcast.

And if you feel so moved, you can buy me a coffee.

You can do all sorts of things, and I'm not looking for a ton of cash.

I would just like some money to pay for the hosting and things like that.

And you can do that out at our website, akronpodcast.com.