Akron’s police auditor has once again challenged a use-of-force incident previously cleared by a police supervisor.
This time, auditor Anthony Finnell is challenging an officer's use of a Taser on a person who was riding a bike and the initial department finding that that use was "objectively reasonable."
This could have caused the man to fall off his bike and sustain a serious injury or even die, Finnell said.
“Special consideration should have been used when deploying a CEW towards someone when the likelihood of serious injury or death could occur,” Finnell wrote in the report.
According to Akron police procedures, conducted electrical weapons, or CEWs as they are called in the report, should not be used under certain “situational hazards,” Finnell wrote in the report.
The incident happened on June 25 on Dan Street, south of Tallmadge Avenue on Akron’s north side.
Two officers, Jonathan Cole and Jack Knox, attempted to stop and question a man who was riding his bike because his description matched a burglary suspect they were looking for, according to the report.
Officers had also seen the man, Gregg Workman, run through a red light and ride his bike the wrong way down a street.
Workman initially stopped for police but then fled on his bike, the report states. Cole deployed his Taser twice to try to stop Workman but missed.
While the initial supervisor who investigated the use of the Taser found its use to be objectively reasonable, Finnell disagrees. He told Ideastream Public Media that in general, Tasers should not be used when someone is on a bike.
“It increases their potential for injury,” Finnell said. “I mean, obviously if someone's standing and, or running and they get tased, they're going to fall. But on a bicycle, now you have that extra piece of metal that's oddly configured… and can easily get tangled up in and could sustain a, again, a head injury or a more serious injury."
Finnell is asking for the supervisor's determination to be changed from "objectively reasonable" to “not objectively reasonable" and for the officer to be disciplined.
The officers later caught up with Workman and arrested him. Workman was charged with obstructing official business.
Workman told police he fled because he had an outstanding felony warrant for aggravated possession of drugs, the report states.
“He stated he just had a baby and did not want to go to jail,” a police supervisor wrote in the initial report.
Finnell's report also includes recommendations to expand the department’s CEW policies. Akron’s policy does not include some of the national standards and best practices, Finnell said.
“I believe it needs some review and some more direction,” Finnell said.
For example, it is recommended that police refrain from deploying Tasers on certain populations, such as the elderly, people who are pregnant or have a frail build, Finnell said.
“[The current] policy doesn’t directly speak to those things. It gives general guidance on it,” Finnell said. “I think through general discussion, we can have a more firm policy that is more specific to those kind of issues, as well as using Tasers on youth … and gives the officers more to think about before they just deploy a Taser.”
Akron’s Citizens’ Police Oversight Board unanimously approved Finnell’s report and recommendations during its meeting Wednesday night. The report will now be sent to Mayor Shammas Malik and Police Chief Brian Harding for review.
Harding came under fire in recent weeks for rejecting one of Finnell’s previous reports, in which Finnell challenged an officer's body slam of a suspect. The initial investigating supervisor found the takedown to be justified, while Finnell said it was not objectively reasonable.
Activist groups and one city council member called for Harding to be fired for rejecting the auditor’s recommendations.
On Monday, Malik announced he plans to bring in outside experts to help the city review its use-of-force policy.
