Akron’s new settlement with Jayland Walker protesters sets up police conduct reforms

[In the player above, watch previous FOX 8 News coverage on a $747,000 settlement between the city of Akron and Jayland Walker protesters.]

AKRON , Ohio (WJW) — A legal settlement between the city of Akron and a group representing Jayland Walker protesters requires the city to develop, with public input, new rules governing police conduct during demonstrations.

The city’s settlement with the Akron Bail Fund was announced Thursday by the Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein law firm in Cleveland. It stems from a 2023 civil lawsuit filed by demonstrators who said they were attacked by officers while protesting the June 2022 death of Jayland Walker at the hands of city police.

The settlement requires a “democratic process” to develop new policies that “limit police use of force, ban police from punishing free speech, require police to record their own activities and prohibit police from cooperating with other jurisdictions as a way to avoid accountability,” reads the news release.

A judge’s preliminary order in the case banned police violence in April 2023, and that ban will continue until the new rules are established by April 2025, according to the release.

Read the full settlement here:

“A community-based process for reform around First Amendment speech will help protect dissent but it does not resolve the police brutality that started these protests,” reads the release.

“As we reflect on the recent anniversary of the police murder of Jayland Walker and the state suppression of community dissent that followed – our clients’ message is the same as it was then: Justice for Jayland.”

The city has agreed to pay $30,000 in attorney’s fees, but the agreement does not include a monetary settlement.

It also does not include an admission of wrongdoing, according to a Thursday statement from Akron Mayor Shammas Malik.

The Akron Police Department has been reviewing its crowd control policies over the last year, according to the statement.

“My administration has previously committed to reviewing police practices and creating a new centralized crowd control policy,” Malik is quoted in the statement. “This move is part of a larger commitment to strengthen our procedures to build trust with our community. My administration and the Akron Police Department remain committed to these efforts, and we aim to model Akron’s new policy off of the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s crowd control policy which is widely regarded as best practice nationwide.”

After public forums, the city plans to hire an expert to draft the new rules. At least two months of public comment will follow.

The city’s separate, $747,000 settlement with 24 people arrested during the Jayland Walker protests and later prosecuted was announced in February .

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