The Akron Citizens' Police Oversight Board voted 6-2 in a special meeting Friday evening to choose Anthony Finnell as its police auditor. His job will be to conduct investigations into complaints of officer misconduct and use-of-force incidents. Finnell previously served in investigative roles in Oakland, Chicago and Seattle.
The board is offering him an annual salary of $120,000, according to the resolution passed by the board. Finnell has waived medical benefits. He would serve a three-year term beginning March 25.
Finnell has been the top candidate for the position for several months.
“He has a stellar background. He is impressive. He knows his way around boards, he knows his way around police systems, and he knows his way around auditors,” Vice Chair Donzella Anuszkiewicz said in a February meeting in which Finnell was introduced to the community.
Finnell sparked some controversy when he was initially announced as the board’s final candidate for the position.
While working as an auditor for the Office of Police Accountability in Seattle, Finnell’s job performance was investigated after a whistleblower alleged Finnell was not looking into complaints thoroughly.
The board knew about these allegations “literally since day one,” board member Bob Gippin said, and they asked Finnell about them during the hiring process.
“We came away satisfied that his conduct concerning those Seattle investigations certainly gave, to put it mildly, gave no reason for us to not proceed to hire him as the auditor,” Gippin said. “These things are complex. We know they initiated with a coworker with whom he did not have good relations … no action was taken by the city authorities in Seattle.”
Finnell was further questioned about this during the community town hall discussion.
He told audience members the Seattle office was overwhelmed with more than 18,000 complaints that year. He said in some cases, he did not find it necessary to review bodycam footage or other evidence before deciding whether to close a complaint.
Finnell is currently the president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. His experience with NACOLE is part of the reason he’d like to serve as auditor, he said, because he can provide the board with resources.
"There's mass resources from across the country that I think Akron could benefit from, and other people that have walked this path before so that board members don't have to hit the same roadblocks," Finnell said.
The oversight board was seated nearly one year ago on March 30, 2023. Citizens voted to form the board in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man.
Finnell hopes to help strengthen police and community relations in Akron, he said.
“Akron is ripe for this transformation, and I want to be a part of that,” Finnell said. “This region is one that can make that shift.”
