Both Akron Police and the city’s police auditor have cleared an officer for punching a student during an arrest at an Akron high school last year.
But the auditor, who reviews use-of-force incidents and makes policy recommendations, says the police department should review its policy on how officers are allowed to use force, paying particular attention to head strikes, according to a report released Wednesday.
The auditor also recommended the district create policies that outline when officers are required to turn on body-worn cameras and create a school-based arrest review board to provide oversight and review arrests in schools.
The recommendations come as part of his review of an incident last October captured on school surveillance video that shows Officer Zachary McCormick striking a student in the head while trying to arrest him at Firestone Community Learning Center.
The 16-year-old student had set off the metal detectors, then tried to bypass them and resisted arrest, auditor Anthony Finnell wrote in his report.
The police department’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability, the internal affairs unit that investigates incidents, reviewed the Firestone incident and ruled the head strikes were “objectively reasonable.”
Finnell reviewed the incident after the police department concluded its investigation. Finnell agreed that McCormick followed department procedures, he said.
“The fact [that] officers did not know what was setting off the metal detector, the subject's resistance to allow them to really investigate, and then the physical resistance and struggling — from a policy standpoint, I have to align with that. It’s objectively reasonable,” Finnell said.
Using force was reasonable and legally justified because the student resisted arrest for about 40 seconds, he said. Officers had reasonable concern that the student was carrying a weapon because the metal detectors went off, Finnell said.
However, Finnell is calling for a comprehensive use-of-force policy review. He especially wants to modify procedures on punches, he said.
"From the APD policy standpoint, the officers were okay, and it was objectively reasonable. But those head shots still are concerning and problematic," Finnell said.
Finnell has seen a concerning number of incidents where officers resorted to head strikes without properly de-escalating the situation or using a different technique to restrain a suspect, he said.
“If you look at the science behind it, and you look what the medical professionals say, there's no question that striking someone in the head poses a more serious inherent risk than, say, striking them in the upper thigh or in the abdomen,” Finnell said. “Police departments across the country, many of them have recognized this, so they do have language in their policies about when an officer is permitted to strike someone in their head.”
The Firestone CLC incident was widely publicized last year, with APS Superintendent Michael Robinson calling for McCormick to be removed from the district. In a news conference, Mayor Shammas Malik called the incident “upsetting.”
The student was treated for a bloody nose. No weapon was found on him. He was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and obstructing justice, but those charges were later dropped by Summit County prosecutors.
Akron school board members continue to be concerned about the incident, as well as the role of officers in schools.
On Monday, the board voted down the proposed school resource officer agreement because it did not include language that would have allowed school board members to remove school resource officers at any time.
Instead, the contract states school officials must ask Police Chief Brian Harding to remove officers from the district.
Auditor concerned about lack of bodycam
On Oct. 16, 2024, Firestone CLC campus principal Tina Loughry requested assistance from the building’s school resource officers after the student set off the metal detectors, Finnell wrote in the report. Students are required to go through the screening each day when they enter the building.
Surveillance camera video provided by APS shows McCormick and another officer, Daniel Henry, sending a student back through the metal detector line before the student tries to push past them into the school. They then attempt to restrain the student, eventually pushing the student to the ground; they later bring him off the ground and begin to walk the student over to the side of the hallway to put handcuffs on him.
While walking him, McCormick begins striking the student in what appears to be the back of the head. The two officers then drop the student to the ground before handcuffing him.
The school’s surveillance footage does not include audio.
Finnell is concerned about the lack of bodycam footage of the incident.
School resource officers were not equipped with body cameras until December of last year, Akron Police Public Information Officer Lt. Michael Murphy said.
Bodycam footage from the officer’s point of view would have shown a clearer picture of the incident, Finnell said.
“With the school surveillance, obviously, you see a wider picture, but you don't hear the verbal direction that the officers are making. You don't hear what’s going on,” Finnell said.
Finnell is recommending Akron Public Schools require school resource officers to turn on their body-worn cameras in certain situations, such as when an educator calls them in for assistance, he said.
Ideastream Public Media reached out to an Akron Public Schools spokesperson about body-worn camera procedures in the school district but has not yet received a response.
The city is currently negotiating the school resource officers' contract with the district, Murphy added. The previous contract does not include any procedures regarding bodycam activation.
“If an officer's going there specifically to a request for assistance, then that's a tool that can potentially help them, as well as help the school as they identify what really happened between this officer and this child,” Finnell said.
In addition to updating the bodycam policy, Finnell also recommends APD participate in de-escalation and adolescent psychology training. He suggested APS create a school-based arrest review board, an oversight committee made up of educators, police, community members and legal experts to review arrests in schools.
Finnell reports to the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board and investigates use-of-force incidents and complaints against police officers. He does not have authority over APS, and school officials are not required to implement his suggestions.
He sent the report to APS but told Ideastream he has not yet gotten a response.
Finnell’s report will be submitted to Chief Harding and Mayor Malik. Finnell is still waiting to hear back from the chief and mayor’s office on some of his previous reports, he said.
