Reports from around the country show journalists arrested and some seriously injured by police during the recent protests over the death of George Floyd. So far, that’s not the case in Akron.
During Akron’s protests, Akron Police Captain David Laughlin served as the public information officer, interfacing with the news media and various police command posts throughout the day.
There were no reports in the city of members of the news media being injured by law enforcement.
Laughlin says the role of police is to warn journalists when protests escalate or police switch to more aggressive tactics to control the protesters.
“So at least if we know who the news media are, if the opportunity presents itself, we can kind of give them some warning that, ‘hey things are starting to get out of hand and we are getting close to the next step and you may not want to be here',” Laughlin said. “We try to find a way to offer that to them. We have great relationships with our news media and we try to be responsive to them because they cover the Akron news.”
Protests in Akron this past weekend were largely peaceful.
