Akron Police Department is the primary municipal

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

for the city of

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with 451 employees. The current

Police Chief A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or sometimes just a chief, ...

is Brian Harding.

History

Early years

The city of Akron was founded in December 1825, where the south part of the downtown Akron neighborhood sits today.The earliest artifact present in the Akron Police Department Museum is a key to the Akron Police Jail from 1890. The Akron police department was the first police department ever to use a horseless, motorized police vehicle. It was powered by two 4-hp electric motors and could reach a maximum speed of 18 mph travel and travel 30 miles before its battery had to be recharged. It was manufactured by the Collins Buggy Company and designed by city mechanical engineer Frank Loomis. It was operated by officer Louis Mueller Sr. The car was a paddy wagon which waited 5000 pounds and cost $2,400($65,000 in today's money). It had a seating space of 12 people and was equipped with electric headlights, a gong and a cell for prisoners. Its first assignment was to pick up an intoxicated man at Main and Exchange streets. During the Riot of 1900 It was damaged and thrown inside Ohio & Erie Canals by rioters who exchanged fire with police officers who then fled the police headquarters to escape from the burning building. It was rescued the next day and remained in service until 1905 before being sold for $25.

Organization and structure

The Akron Police Department is made up of 3 divisions-the Uniformed subdivision, the Investigative Subdivision and the Services Subdivision. These subdivisions may be further divided into bureaus and specialized units. The uniformed subdivision performs most of the regular police work done by the department. The personnel working in the investigative subdivision are responsible for all the investigative work performed by the department. The personnel serving in the services subdivision perform a variety of administrative and technical tasks related to the maintenance and functioning of the department.

Uniform subdivision

It is the largest subdivision inside the Akron PD. It is further divided into the ''Patrol Bureau'' and the ''Traffic Bureau''.The primary function of the patrol bureau is to respond to calls for service and patrol the neighborhoods of Akron to ensure public order. The Patrol Bureau consists of five patrol platoons in addition to many other specialized units for accomplishing certain specific tasks. The specialized units maintained by the patrol bureau include: *Patrol Operations: The Patrol Operations group of the Bureau commands all of the day-to-day patrol work performed by the patrol bureau. It is the control center of the 4 regular patrol platoons of the patrol bureau as well as all the specialized units attached to the bureau. *Police Information Desk: The information desk assists the people who come to the police station for various reasons, including filing a non-emergency police report or a complaint. It also keeps a record of all the vehicles towed inside the city. *K-9 Unit: The K-9 teams of the Akron Police Department are not organized inside a separate unit but are assigned to the 4 regular patrol platoons during all the patrol shifts and step in when required. The department currently maintains six K9 patrol teams and two K9 narcotics' teams which consist of one sergeant, 5 officers and 6

police dogs A police dog, also known as a K-9 (phonemic abbreviation of canine), is a dog that is trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers. Their duties may include searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, finding ...

. Like all other canine units in the world, it performs crime scene searches as well as detection of people and items. Officers in this unit are also members of the patrol platoons at the same time. *Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT): Like all other police

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

teams and similar

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. The tasks of a ...

s in the U.S. and the rest of the world, the SWAT officers of APD are often involved in operations such as responding to extreme emergencies, confrontations with armed preparators, raids and dignitary protection. *Court/Building Security: Established in 1981 as the Court Liaison Detail to provide court security, this unit provides security for all six municipal courts in Akron and has also been providing security to the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center since 1996. *Motorcycle Unit: The motorcycle officers of the department are assigned to this unit and are involved in traffic patrol, dignitary escort and representing the department at ceremonial events. *Police Community Relations: This group consists of officers who are responsible for planning and coordinating the community work performed by the department. *Police Honor Guard: The officers who volunteer to serve in this part-time ceremonial guard represent Akron Police at functions, parades, funerals and other related ceremonies. Officers inside this unit also serve in other full-time units and are called upon to serve as a part of the honor guard only in times of need. *Community Engagement Team: The CET is the Police group responsible for nurturing the department's relationship with the communities of Akron. They frequently attend community programs and events and respond to non-emergency neighborhood issues. The Traffic Bureau enforces traffic laws, is in charge of traffic management for special events and is also involved in traffic patrol. They are often the first responders to vehicular accidents. The Bureau's other specialized function include Hit Skip, Commercial Vehicle Weight Enforcement, and Traffic Crash Reconstruction. The traffic crash reconstruction unit investigates fatal or serious accidents and felonies and analyses crashes, evaluates equipment requisitions, and assists in criminal investigations where motor vehicles are involved.

Investigative subdivision

The investigative subdivision of APD is commanded by the deputy chief of police. It investigates crimes, apprehends offenders, processes

crime scenes A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement. ...

, recovers stolen property and prepares cases for

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

. The specialist units that come inside the investigative subdivision are: *Crimes Against Persons/Major Crimes: As the name suggests, the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) investigates

homicides Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent act ...

, felonious

assaults In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result i ...

robberies Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

sexual assaults Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. Sex, SEX or sexual may also refer to: *Sexual intercourse, a sexual activity Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Sex'' (1920 ...

and other major

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

. The officers working in this group are on duty during 2 shifts between 3pm and 7am. All major crimes reported during these shifts are investigated by this unit. *Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI): The SAKI investigates

cold case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

sexual assaults with the help of forensic and DNA evidence. It is funded entirely by

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

and collaborates with the Summit County Prosecutors Office, Ohio BCI, Victim Assistance Program, and the Rape Crisis Center. *Crimes against property: The Crimes against Property Unit (CPU) investigates thefts,

financial crimes Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an ...

and

burglaries Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

. *Juvenile, Auto Theft and Missing persons:The Juvenile branch investigates cases where the victims or suspects are under the age of 18, such as

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

and major crimes committed by minors. As a multipurpose unit, it also investigates

grand theft auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...

and

missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...

cases *Crime Scene: The function of the Crime Scene branch is to analyze the area where an alleged crime reportedly occurred; collecting physical and

trace evidence Trace evidence occurs when objects make contact, and material is transferred. This type of evidence is usually not visible to the naked eye and requires specific tools and techniques to be located and obtained. Due to this, trace evidence is often ...

, examining

and securing them all come under the domain of this group. It also maintains criminal histories and analyzes confiscated narcotics. *Polygraph Unit: As its name suggests, much of its work is related to

polygraphs A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a pe ...

. It conducts polygraph tests on both, people being interviewed for investigative purposes and polygraph tests conducted on potential future employees of the department *Narcotics / Street Narcotics Uniform Detail (SNUDS) / Vice:SNUDS is a specialist branch of Akron Police Department commanded by an officer with the tank of Captain. Its focus is on crimes related to drugs. Additionally, it also investigates illegal activities related to

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

Services Subdivision

The services subdivision performs inter departmental functions required for the maintenance of the Akron Police Department. It consists of the Administrative Services Bureau and The Technical Services Bureau.

Administrative Services Bureau

The Administrative Services Bureau primarily handles the overall financial administration of the department. It is further divided into the units Training, Planning and Research, Civil Liabilities, and Equipment Control. The Training Bureau conducts annual training for police officers and reserves, and operates the Akron Police Department Police Academy. The Planning and Research branch handles federal and state grants allotted to the department as well as other Special Revenue Funds which total in excess of $5,700,000. It manages the departments partnerships with the Caring Communities, East Akron Community House, Children's Services and the University of Akron.

Technical Services Bureau

The technical services bureau consists of the following units: *Information Systems: The Information Systems branch handles matters related to the day-to-day functioning of the computers used by the department. It is commanded by Deputy Chief of Police Michael Caprez. *Intelligence Unit: The intelligence unit is commanded by a police officer with the rank of sergeant and composed of four crime analysts and one detective. *Record Room

Rank structure and insignia

Controversies

● Killing of Jayland Walker

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Website
Municipal police departments of Ohio