Body-worn cameras to return to Akron after Walker death

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Akron officials have decided that police vehicle dashcams will return to the city this summer following the death of Jayland Walker, who was shot and killed by police last year.

The Akron City Council voted 13-0 Monday to outfit two dozen frontline police cruisers as well as two prisoner transport vans with cameras from Axon, the Akron Beacon-Journal reported. A state grant will initially cover the $334,680 cost, which will later be paid by proceeds from a 0.25% income tax approved by voters in 2017.

The dashcams were retired in March 2018, with city officials saying it would be too expensive to keep the dash-camera system after police units were provided with the body-worn alternative in 2017.

Some council members and advocates argue that they could have provided critical footage before the death of Walker, who was shot dozens of times June 27 after two officers initially tried to stop his car for minor equipment violations. Walker refused to stop and, seconds into the pursuit, a shot was fired from his car, police said.

The officers chased the car and 25-year-old Walker stopped and fled, wearing a ski mask. Ignoring officers’ commands, he ran into an adjacent parking lot where he was killed, police body camera video shows. Authorities said Walker represented a “deadly threat.” A handgun and a wedding ring were found on the driver’s seat of his car.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who oversees the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told the newspaper last month that it could be early April before state prosecutors present the case to a Summit County grand jury that will decide if any officers will be indicted. Yost said the “massive case” is more complex and taking longer than usual.