Kemp Boyd started the meeting at 6:00 PM All members were present except Beverly Richards Catie Castle read the purpose of the board The minutes from the last meeting passed unanimously

A community member said that she is concerned about prone restraint (holding a person to the ground) and asked the board to find ways to reduce prone restraint use. They also shared an article with the board which showed that prone restraint use is dangerous.

Robert Gippin said that they previously discussed complaint review procedures regarding use of force. He said that there will be a recommendation for the board for the next board meeting for what the procedure might look like.

Gippin moved for the City of Akron Mayor's Office to provide independent legal counsel for the Board. He also said that still relying on the Akron Law Dept. may be a conflict of interest but Law Dept. actions have been acceptable thus far. The motion passed unanimously.

Donzella Anuszkiewicz moved to approve sending out applications for the deputy police auditor position. Anthony Finnell said that he is working with the City of Akron HR Dept. regarding the new position Resolution passed unanimously

Costa said that the board must build a positive relationship between residents and police. He also said that people may not know how to file a complaint so he will be creating a PDF complaint form for residents to use. Costa said that there should be a community event calendar.

A staffer and Gippin responded that there is a calendar on the website and that items can be posted there by the city Gippin said that conversation about policing reform isn't enough and there needs to be substantive reforms.

Costa said that community engagement forums that include talking about actual policy would be more impactful. Boyd said that there is a 3-tier approach to community engagement, education, engagement, and empowerment that was created by a former board member.

Boyd said that experts (like board members) talking to residents will be helpful in engaging residents Anuszkiewicz said retired police officers at a previous meeting brought up ideas about community policing and resident positive engagement with the police and the board.

Finnell said he reviewed 4 use of force incidents where he concurs with APD and is still working on 7 reviews. He said that there is one review which he did not concur with APD and suggestions were sent to Akron City Council and the Mayors Office.

Finnell said that there are 4 complaints submitted today which the Police are reviewing. Finnell said that there is a planned meeting to improve APD, Board, and Administration communication Tristan Reed said that communication needed to be improved a long time ago.

Reed said that there must be a timeline for the administration to respond to non-concuring reports Gippin said that the admin. will decide their own timeline. Boyd and Costa said that they can recommend a timeline to the administration to the admin.

Nanette Pitt said that new procedures regarding non-concuring opinions are not set up yet but are being worked on as quickly as possible. Finnell said that he needs access to any information to create reports. Boyd and Gippin said that it will be discussed during committee

Tristan Reed said that she will be resigning from the board effecting May 29th because she moving for a home and job. Anuszkiewicz, Boyd, and Pitt wished her farewell and thanked her for her service

Boyd moved for the board to started meeting on the first Wednesday of every month starting in June Anuszkiewicz said that she disagrees with the motion because it would make the board irrelevant and not helpful to the public and prevent discussions

Gippin said that he disagrees and the board has a lot of work to do with procedures and recommendations which requires bi-weekly meetings Boyd said that Finnell said that the board met a lot and that less meeting would allow the auditor to engage with the community more

Anuszkiewicz said that his responsibility is to process community complaints not community engagement. She said that while other older boards meet once a month, the review board cannot because it would risk making the board irrelevant

Castle said that it wouldn't make the board irrelevant and that 3-4 meetings a week prevents board members from engaging with the public Costa said that the auditor board's main responsibility is community engagement in order to repair community distrust

Gippin said that adding a 2 week delay would backlog votes and discussions of procedure and reviews. He also said that the board doesn't gain anything from pulling back and that the auditor is not hindered by the current meetings.

Finnell said that monthly meetings would help alleviate board member stress. But said that he understands concerns about backlogged votes and discussions. He said that monthly meetings should be the goal but June may be too early.

Costa and Anuszkiewicz continued debating over each other with Costa saying that not every board member is retired. This continued until multiple board members suggested tabling the item The item was tabled unanimously

The meeting ended at 7:07 PM. The next meeting will be May 15th at 6:00 PM at Akron City Hall for more meeting coverage check out

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