Eight officers who fatally shot Jayland Walker reinstated by Akron police chief to aid shortage of staff
AKRON, OHIO: Jayland Walker was shot more than 40 times by eight Ohio police officers after he was stopped for a traffic violation. The 25-year-old BLACK Ohio man was killed in such a manner that the police were forced to release the body cam footage which shook citizens leading to protests. The police officers who were involved in this shooting faced immense backlash. The cops involved with the June 27th killing also had bounties placed on their heads. Now, the Chief of Akron police has revealed that due to the shortage of staff, all the police officers are being reinstated.
The Chief of Akron police, Steve Mylett, told a press conference that the move of bringing back these police officers could brush the citizens in a wrong way and was indeed a controversial move. However, he pressed that it was an important decision as he chose to aid the city with essential services instead of depriving them during this critical staff shortage. Mylett said, "I recognize that this decision will have an impact. And there may be some community concern, but I didn't take this decision lightly. And I think this decision is in the best interests of the citizens and businesses of Akron," as reported by Daily Mail. A coroner later concluded that Walker died of 46 gunshot wounds to his body, with five to his back as he was running away.
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Mylett said, "I need as many people as I can muster so I don't have to cut services to the community." He explained that the staff is dangerously low. He continued, "So much so that I consider it a crisis - staffing levels in our police department - to the point where I'm being put in a position where I may end up having to decide to cut some services that we provide to the community because we just don't have enough people. And that's certainly something I do not want to do." Mylett explained the benefits of bringing back these eight officers, "I believe it will make a significant difference because every call that an officer is able to handle over the telephone is one less response by a field officer, and that keeps officers in the neighborhood and free to answer other 911 calls, higher priority calls. I have looked to my deputy chiefs to assign the officers appropriately. And they're doing that."
Reaffirming the trust in the citizens, Mylett reflected on the actions of the police officers and said, "I assure you that this has not been a vacation for these officers. This shooting has impacted everybody in the city of Akron and beyond. And this shooting has certainly impacted the officers as well. Bringing [them] back and reassigning them provides a service to the community that these officers are able to provide. And that is the decision — that decision was based on that." The officers were initially on paid leave and seven of them were WHITE while one was a BLACK officer.