'All this stems from not communicating,'' she said.

Here, let me help you communicate:
1. Don't be a gang banger
2. Be in your home at curfew
3. Don't hang out with trouble makers
4. Go to school, do well and get a job or go to college
5. Wearing your white t-shirt hanging out is a signal that you are selling crack, so unless you are selling crack, tuck in your shirt
6. Don't carry illegal weapons. If you feel unsafe outside, go to your home and stay there, don't arm yourself and go out.
7. Quit listening to the same liberal idiots that keep you in the situation you are in so they can keep their jobs and have job security.
8. Learn to speak English. MTV2 does not teach English, it teaches ghetto. Business America does not speak ghetto.
9. If you hang out with criminals and drug users, other people will think you, too, are a criminal and drug user.
10. Good grades show a good attitude. Pants around your knees don't.

The PD is not the problem in Akron. If you continue to bash the Pd and tell the Officers that they are no good, then how do you think they are going to react? The city needs to support the PD. Without them, there is chaos.

I agree with Mischief and Maximus. Our police department is not perfect--none of them are, but we should still support them and work with them. I also agree that some of the African-American community should start being law-abiding citizens and start taking responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming everyone else.

The Mayor, Sommerville, and even the NAACP rep are reacting to fear they are losing their constituencies, so they have to blow some smoke. After all, look at the last election data and the African American wards kept th Mayor in office. That’s why he keeps Marco on a leash making it look like he’s his heir apparent. That’s why the Mayor pushed the Sewers for Scholarship plan and why he picks a fight with the police. Also, the Mayor has Mendenhall and his group about set to run a recall. That’s why you see a daily article from a Mayor crony in the Voice of the People section of the BJ.
Bottomline, if the Mayor and Sommerville really cared about changing the culture of the police force, then why have they failed to do squat to this point on a national search for a police chief? As you know, good organizations have great leadership, so if they really wanted a change (instead of knee jerk response to their constituencies), knowing the old chief was leaving, then, why do essentially nothing about looking for that great leader? Improve communications? Maybe its the Mayor??

The APD is not the goat here. They are only doing their job of protecting and serving ALL the citizens of Akron. It's those hoodie type African-Americans who are the problem. They carry those guns and commit too many crimes. If the APD backs off at all, Aklron will become the wild west Dodge City of Northeast Ohio.

As for communication, I think it's just fine with the APD. It's just that the A-A's don't like what they are hearing from the APD about there kind breaking the law and getting themselves dead.

Mayor Don - you had better be careful with how you treat the APD, or you'll have no white people coming into Akron for anything pretty soon, and they are the ones with money to spend.

This isn't about civil rights. This is about two adults who had no business carrying a deadly weapon who ended up dead because of their own actions/inactions. Thankfully, these officers went home to their families unlike Officer Miktarian.

I'm thinkin' that the nice colored folks in Akron should spend a little more of their time addressin' the multitude of their members who are committin' crime in our city.

Not once, ever, have they marched or rallied against the members of their own community for the crimes that are committed.

This article is jes' another sign that Akron's city hall hero is long overdue to be ousted and some new blood inserted, that will protect the interests of all members of the community, instead of jes' one particular group.

"How about this. To the African- American community...Stop breaking the law!"


Ok Maximus
Now that you have solved only HALF the problem, what else do you suggest?


Ignorance also has a BIG part to do with it. You people say 'African American's are lazy and need to go get jobs.'
But your the same people who manage the grocery stores, restauruants, Mcdonald's; that REFUSE to hire a 'black' and give them to chance to prove themselves.

"The door swings both ways"
And if you beat my ancestors and turned them into your slaves I wouldn't abide by any of your arrogant rules either.

So what do all of you racist SOB's suggest?
Just kill every single black person in the world and all of the problems would be solved?
UH NO.
This world is doomed due to GREED by the 'rich white people'

i agree the apd is not the problem. it is these worthless hoodrat gangs , drug dealers and simply free loaders. i think the police do the right thing and shoot people when ordered to put down their guns or ask to see hands when they feel they do not have to respond to a officers request. they are only doing this for the safty of themselves , innocent bistandars and the criminal. i used to live in akron till about 7 yrs ago and i see the city go to ---- in a hand basket. as i see it akron will be just one big ghetto. i think these victims family needs to accept the fact that their loved ones were acting criminal like and were a threat to innocent people, themselves and the officers. stop blaming others for the fact that your children are thugs .
i just wonder what the response would be if black officers were doing the shooting. and how would the naacp and these groups would hold their position.

"The city has improved minority recruiting for its most recent police class and plans to work with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission to further refine the process."

So a white person better qualified will be denied a job so they can hire a minority. Is the AA community expecting police officiers to just stand there while the thugs shoot them? Maybe the police should just not do anything. Let the NAACP get out there and stop the crime.

Vinson died from a caliber bullet NOT carried by the police. That closes the case to any thinking person. Of course that leaves out his family who will protect their dead drug dealer brutha....

Mayor/Marco,

If you want to decrease crime in Akron, a confluence of many initiatives have to occur:

1) Employment rates have to escalate

2) Local laws have to change to reflect the crisis
that is occurring in our neighborhoods
a) if you get caught with an unregistered gun -
manditory jail time
b) if you get caught selling drugs -
manditory jail time

3) Educational opportunties have to be expanded to
include the minority population of Akron

4) The APD needs to improve their image and
visibility within the black community

5) Ignorance breeds ignorance; what guidance can
a father pass on to his son, if he himself is
devoid of any parenting skills? We need to make
ourselves aware of our parental responsibilities
in the black community.

6) We need to take back our homes.
a) The structure of the afican-americam home
has been ravaged for so long that it has
become acceptable

7) Black Pride
a) After all the years of struggle and pain
that our forefathers endured, how to we show
respect? By dropping our pants to our ankles
and not taking proper care of children. We
are worst shape now than in the 1960's.

8) Elect a new 4th WARD councilman. We need fresh
ideas that reflect the changes in our neighborhood. Renee' Greene hasn't had a positive impact.

Who's to blame for the tragic black on black crime?

No one literally say's a word when Shawrica Lester was murdered.

Yet when the police are involved, they are to blame? We've seen the double standard for too long, it doesn't work anymore.

Apparently Marc doesn't get out much. There are folks of color in all of those places.

I wonder iff'n he could point out a single livin' person that beat his ancestors or turned them into slaves??

Sadly, the young man lives in a world where the rules of decent society weren't part of his education.

Remember it's always someone else at fault!
The blame game is the easy way out as it takes effort to effect change.
There's plenty good out there,yet that's not part of any papers agenda.
Say hello to someone you don't know just once and you will feel better than OMG does all year.

As for the fallen Akron Americans ,they had choices they chose wrong. Shawrica Lester had no choice.

Miscommunication? I still don't get how someone can misunderstand "Drop the weapon!"

Marc. Your the other half of the problem. Slavery? Give me a break. Every excuse and you use slavery as the reason why they should not listen to the law.

I JUST DONT THINK YOU PEOPLE GET IT. EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO LIFE. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE ANOTHER PERSON'S LIFE! THIS INCLUDES THE POLICE! IF A PERSON COMMITTED A CRIME, WE EXPECT THEM TO BE PUNISH IN THE COURT OF LAW. DEMETRUS VINSON HAD NEVER SERVED A DAY IN PRISON. ANY YOUNG PEOPLE CAN MAKE A MISTAKE BUT THAT DOES NOT GIVE THE POLICE THE RIGHT TO KILL THEM. AKRON, LET'S JUST ALLOW THE JUSTICE DEPT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SOLVE THIS ONE.

Spineless pandering by spineless politicians.

Good job, Dirty Don: Shift the blame away from those potential voters and their criminal offspring before the recall reaches the ballot.

To 'Y-R-UNVS': Very good comments. I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your input!

I also wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Renee Greene in the 4th Ward. Could she be more useless and do less for Ward 4? I think not. We need someone in Ward 4 who is willing to do more than collect a paycheck and rubberstamp whatever the mayor wants. Do something to help the crime rate in Ward 4 Renee! Maybe quitting is the best thing she could do for us.

To LWallace-Vinson killed himself, he failed to obey police commands. He made his own choice stop blaming the police.

These are the problems I see in this city:

We have a mayor who does not support his police department.

We have councilmen who only see the deaths of one color.

We have citizens who carry guns, commit crimes, and don't listen to the police when they are told what to do.

We have families who can't believe their family members would ever do anything wrong... NOT THEM!!

People we need to get some people in this city who can stand up to the ones who are wrong... being white, black or whatever.

We need a mayor and council members who stand up for ALL the citizens of Akron....not just the select few.

Textbook political pandering & mass media pandering as well. As this blows over & is swept under, the people of Ward 4 will once more be forgotten by their political "leaders". Anything for their votes, then make them go away.

Miss Ann Thorpe,

I agree with you. Your assessment of Renee' Greene is absolutely correct. She hasn't made any headway at all in terms of crime, educational reform or social issues in the WARD 4 area. It really is a shame. We need somebody that is going to "hit the streets", show unabated concern for WARD 4, and make an impact downtown in City Council. It's time to shake things up !!! WE ARE IN A CRISIS ! I can't wait to the next election !!

Mayor/Marco,

Let me say it again. WE ARE IN A CRISIS in the 4th WARD. If your son or daughter was drowning, wouldn't you do "everything you could" to save them? Our kids are drowning, not in water, but from economic and educational deprivation !!! Get off your ass and do something !!! PLEASE !!

Mayor/Marco,

Let me say it again !!! WE ARE IN A CRISIS in the 4th WARD !!!

How bad is crime in the 3rd and 4th WARDS? Even Marco Sommerville carries a gun..... That's a fact....

Hello everyone I have to be the voice of truth and unbiasness because everyone is right to a certain extent it is very hard to be a police officer in akron we know this but police officers make mistakes and truth be told what you here is not always what happens people want to believe that the police did nothing wrong so that they can go on a live there lives with sanity because if the police are committing crimes along with the criminals then what are we to do Im sorry to put stress in to your sain world but in both of those shooting family members where there it is not that they dont want to believe that family members would do something like that they cant believe that police officers would say these things with his family watching Mr Stevens was shoot 22 times and his family there said he got on the ground and was not reaching for a gun a lot of those shoots were in the back and Demetrus was in his grandmothers driveway and had been shoot three times one bullet hitting his lungs and heart but he somehow shoot himself this is fact not what you heard from your buddy accross the street most of you on here will have your mind made up either way but I am glade I moved out of Akron so that I didn't have to worry about if the police made a mistake and killed me would they just make something up and kill my good name in the process In the military we are praised for the fighting we do and we thank americans for it but when we make mistakes or go outside of what is considered ethical then we are held accountable and that is all these families are asking for a better Akron in which those in the african american community think of akron as a place where police protect them not shoot them

I hope Gerald Gould runs for councilman in the 4th WARD. He will get the job done and not be a puppet for Marco.

All these threats in the article let them happen. Let the justice dept. take over the pd, only promote officers who never use force, and always have the state conduct an INDEPENDENT investigation into all shooting incidents. Then i guess akron will be safe. If cops can't use force why don't we just hire a bunch of security guards to go around and tell people "you can't do that". If the justice dept. ran the pd once they determined that officers acted correctly they would tell these people to shoove it up their a**. Thats exactly why mayor don won't let it happen.

WHENS THE NEXT APD RALLY I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO SHOW MY SUPPORT!

To WORD,

Where did you get that statistic?

From many of the comments here, one would think that all APD officers are white.

The most significant voice MISSING from this debate - the Black Law Enforcement Officers of the APD.

And why is that ??

Class of 68 ----

you are right? where have they been hiding? or do they really have a voice within the APD?

Yeah Marc, but nobody beat YOU. Your ancestors are ancient history. Stop playing the "slave" card and learn to read so you can get a job.

Stop having illegitimate kids and they'll stop getting shot.

My brother is a black police officer with the APD. He said the black community is embarrassing. They behave badly, they are disrespectful and if they are out doing the crime they deserve what they get. The media plays into the race issues by only reporting on black crime.

Porter69,

When is your next KKK meeting being held? With those types of comments you have to be a life member. Tell the Grand Wizard that I said hello.

Akron police are like the Gestapo from history

The statistic that 74% of blacks that enroll in college drop out was taken from an editorial in todays' USA Today.

BELLABABE - That's good to know. I wonder what the semi-literate horacevinson would have to say about your comments!

What do people think Renee Greene can do in Ward 4? She cannot raise your kids or teach them to value education. She cannot teach them that the answer is NOT in drugs or crime. She can't even teach them to pull up their pants and act civilized.

Not accepting responsibility for one's role in the problem is MOST of the problem in the great city of Akron.

lets hope this happens. we need to get some changes made. as a whole i support law officers. but there needs to be inprovements made. we need a citizens review board as well as a few more things. we also need new blood in the mayors office as well in city concile. lets put the race card aside for the momment! with my son it was white on white. so putting coler aside. the fact remains that this kind of thing is happening every where. in our community as well as others. bad officers have no place protecting and serving the public. as mr vinison pointed out, there are things that happend and they would like to get the answers too. and they want to make sure no one else has to go through this if possible. we are all just people, why is that so hard to understand. unfortunatly i fear he is not going to do a whole lot. not to worry drew or the next sheriff in charge will be taking over apd. remember the one department thing he is eyeing after the years test. this to providing he is still mayor. one things for sure the next election will be a interesting one to say the least.

Regardless of ethnicity. If you pull a gun on police or reach for a gun you deserve to be shot, no matter how many times.

Just a wild guess but when he reached for the gun he was not just going to show it to the officers, and say look at this isn't it neat!

Word, are you a college graduate? If you are, why did you need assistance with the most basic rules of grammar and punctuation?

You must live in a glass house.

When will this end?

Warning--the following is sarcasm!

I got an idea. Lets take 10 square miles of Akron and give it to the black community. They can govern and police themselves. They can elect their own black mayor, have a black police chief and an entire police department that is black. Food will be delivered once a week to this neighborhood and the residents will have to have a pass to get out into the rest of the real world for weekend forloughs--as long as they behave.

Is this what its going to take to get the madness to end.

At a time when Akron needs leadership, the mayor once again refuses to step up and take command. Yes Don, you can end the madness by sticking up for your police department and when a tragic event happens such as police shootings, you can stand tall and be the voice of reason instead of cowering in the corner.

Why do I get the feeling that Sommerville and these families will keep asking for investigations until they finally find one that serves their purposes.

I had to read the article over and over to make sure I read Averitts comments correctly. Promote officers who don't use force!! Are you serious????? "Sorry Mrs. Smith, your husband died because he refused to protect himself and use force against the bad guys. He would have made a great chief of police!!"

Marco can do his 'people' better by encouraging them to #1 get an education, #2 Respect your teachers, #3 follow the law, don't cruise at 3am on a school night with a gun in the car, #4 Stop having babies just because you want one.
But that isn't a popular message, he might not get re-elected if he has a harsh word.

The justice department potentially could take over the police department.
I think the APD should welcome this.
It's going to show the Mayor for who he really is.
As far as Sommersville, maybe they can also tell us why he got away with a felony charge, and still has his job.
He should have been charged Federally.

I'm sorry, but if a Police Officer tells me to do something, I am going to do it. Immediately. No hesitating, no arguing, no disrespectful attitude. Perhaps all you thugs out there who obviously never learned basic grammar should consider doing the same. Maybe then we would quit hearing about how "their son would NEVER do anything like that." Where were these mothers when their kids were supposed to be sitting in English class?

How come you people think "all" African Americans are bad?
My family and I are not bad at all. We work, pay our taxes, and abide by the law. We raised our children here in Akron. We were raised here in Akron. And guess what ! Life happens, no matter what color you are. So life happens to us all.
The Justice Department should take steps to make corrections here. It is getting out of control.

If the mayor and Mr Sommerville are as stupid as they sound asking the justice department to look at the Police department then they better be willing to spend money on it. Because if they determine more manpower and training are needed the mayor is not going to be able to weasle out.The justice department could better use its time looking into city contracts and so forth or say into the private schools

what happen to mayor dons and asst mayor marcos police auditor. how much money has he made so far??

Has the Sheriff Given Marco his ccw permit back yet for his brain lapse at the airport

The APD has an excellent Community Oriented Policing Division, I know because I have firsthand experience. All you bloggers who keep talking about making changes in your neighborhoods need to step up and volunteer yourself and your time. The new community learning centers are available for you to have community related activities, such as watch groups. How many of you have approached the dept. and asked what you can do to help? It's obvious their resources are stretched to the limit and until they are able to get more officers on the street, things will probably keep getting worse. Neighborhoods need to work together, the police can't be everywhere, we wouldn't want them to be. The Ward 10 Councilwoman has yet to come to one of our community meetings, even though she is invited to every one. Our APD guy is always there. City hall, are you listening?

It has all gotten out of control.. parents dont make their kids show respect to anyone. They act as ignorant as alot of the kids do. That is a first step teach your kids to respect authority.

The thing that gets me is you don't see anyone from the black activist or protestors protesting black on black crime..... black on white crime. They only have stuff to say about the police defending their lives. What sense does this make?? Are those the only lives that count I dont hardly think so.

Everyone keeps mentioning that the alleged thug drug dealer was shot 22 times. How many cops had drawn down on this criminal? 2? 4? 6? By myself, I could have shot a criminal 35 times in under 6 seconds with one gun and two clips. That's how you train to defend yourself or family from harm. Pointing a gun at a police officer is SUICIDE! It is a proven method of killing your self. Cops are generally trained to deal with it. But the fatal shot came from his own STOLEN .45! To Horace Vinson, I am truly sorry that your family member was killed by police, however if I did, what he did, I would expect the same result. There is no color or race associated with dumb. DON"T POINT GUNS AT POLICE! Comply or Die when it comes to guns.

always blame the blacks.
When a white person is killed by police we will see how you respond. Most whites just hate blacks you can read into it in there posts. Hete your ancestors for going to Africa and kidnapping, raping, hanging, and making the blacks do there work for them. Blame them.....

I have 1 observation. Why does it seem that everyone on this forum who is bashing the APD and supporting the thugs can't spell, and the people who support APD can?
I think I know where all the inteligent people stand on this issue.

hey untrusted2012, maybe you ought to learn how to spell "intelligent" before you criticize someone.

untrusted2012, maybe you ought to learn how to spell "intelligent" before you criticize a whole group of people.

To Markoo:

Your rasicm is showing.

A rattlesnake, if cornered will become so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is - a biting of oneself. We think we are harming others in holding these spites and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves.

hey marco, will black police officers not shoot their guns? bet they do. and at these shootings were all the officers white. bet not. marco is a racist pig. WE NEED ANOTHER POLICE RALLY. ALSO GOTO WEB SITE.... CHANGEAKRONNOW.COM. the problem starts at the top.

Markoo- you gotta get past the salvery thing-you are degrading the people who actually were slaves by you ignorant statements. FYI: black slaves from Africa were sold to the whites by OTHER black tribes! I am not for slavery at all-but the facts are that blacks started selling other blacks into slavery. Plus-what about the WHITE people who helped end slavery: Abe Lincoln, all soldiers in the Union army, and what about the whites that went down south in the '60's? White people are not the big probelm for black people-it is the black people that are hurting the black people.

the white people don't get shot because they know how to follow directions

Well said Miss Ann Thrope. Well said.

betamax.....us colored people would like for you to say racist stuff to our faces, not on the computer.... cowards hideing behind a keyboard

This comment is aimed directly at the families whi have lost loved ones at the hands of police. I am very sorry for your loss and I'm not going to second guess the decisions that anyone made in the heat of a moment.

This comment is aimed directly at NAACP President Averitte. HOW DARE YOU say that APD should promote officers who don't use force. You have no business making that comment because you obviously have no idea what it is like to pull on scene at a gang fight at Peckham and Madison and break up 200 young black kids at 1AM by being nice, polite and not using force.

TO THE COPS: I bet if you let some mope punch you right in the chops, you could lose a couple of teeth and be promoted right to lieutenant.

When the DOJ comes into Akron and mandates the police controls, here's what you can expect:
1- officers will spend 20% of their shift completing paperwork explaining everything they have done because a b/m ran a redlight and was issued a cite.
2- during that 20%, the neighborhoods that don't want police will continue to be plagued by home invasions, pizza robberies and assaults.
3- nothing will change, the urban terrorists will continue to do what they do and more innicent young black people will be victimized and shot.

When you ignore or fail to identify the CORRECT problem, you cannot solve anything. Please whine, cry, protest and march for solutions...but some of us need to start that day by looking in the mirror, first.

Well folks the liberals ans self seeking AH's are finally turning over the city to the thugs and crack dealers.

racy says be good keep hands off guns don't hang with gangers and you will probably get old(@@)TATS what racy says

WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE ONES MAKING GUNS AND HAVE BOATS AND PLANES TO BRING DRUGS INTO THE COUNTRY........THEN YOU WHITE PEOPLE GET UPSET BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL USING US AS SLAVES SELLING THE CRACK....CLEANUP YOUR OWN PEOPLE FOR BRINGING THE CRACK AND GUNS TO OUR NIEGHBORHOODS.... IVE SEEN AKRON COPS SELL DRUGS....

Lester,

You are a loser.

Lester,

Your attitude is just what's wrong with our world today. Try living by the laws of this city, state, and nation. I have no problem with you voicing your opinion. You are entitled to that, but this "black" attitude of yours is the exact thing that encites the less intelligent people of our city into acts that get them in trouble. Let's hope your "attitude" doesn't drive someone to end up in jail or worse.

Hey
Lou-SZER YOU ALWAY SPEAKING ON SOMEONE ANCESTER IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT WP MARRIED WITHIN THERE FAMILY
TO KEEP MONEY AWAY FROM ANYONE NOT IN CLOSE NET FAMILY THAT WHY YOU NEED TO STOP PRODUCING CHILDREN BY YOUR SISTER A FAMILY THAT LAYS TOGETHER
PRODUCES LOSERS ILLEGITIMATE THAT

HEATERS ARE;
OLD MAN GRUMP
SUPERFLY
JEFF
BETAMAX
LOU-SZER UNTRUSTED 2012
PORTER69
MARTINI-CAL
YOUR ALL NVITED TO ATTEND ARE YOU SMARTER THAN YOUR
ANCESTERS