Akron officials are taking some new approaches to improving public safety amid decreasing crime in the city.
City officials gave updates on some existing programs and discussed new projects during a press conference Thursday in Downtown Akron.
Most reported crimes, including robbery, car theft and felonious assault, are down so far this year, Police Chief Brian Harding said. Shootings and firearms-related offenses are both continuing to decrease, and overall calls for police are down 7% compared to last year at this time, Harding said.
One major uptick, Harding said, is incidents of rape – up 46% this year compared to last year at this time. Sexual assault among juveniles appears to be contributing to this increase, he said.
The police department has ramped up communications with Akron Children’s Hospital and Summit County Children Services to try to combat this, he said.
“I would like to see our detectives continue to work diligently on each of these cases, and I think that shows in some of the results that we've seen,” Harding said. “We hope to see these numbers go back down for the rest of this year.”
While police use-of-force incidents increased overall last year, these incidents are down 27% this year, he added.
Police used force 305 times in 2024, compared to 250 in 2023, according to preliminary department data. In 2025, there have been 63 reported uses of force, compared to 86 at this time last year.
Harding attributes the decrease to more de-escalation training for officers and fewer violent crimes, he said.
“Our officers by proxy [are] responding to less violent calls, which probably also assists with the decrease in those numbers,” Harding said. “I don't have a good quantitative analysis on why we saw the slight uptick last year, but we're definitely celebrating the decrease this year.”
Street Team is up and running
Officials also provided an update on the city’s Street Team pilot program that targets gun violence.
The program connects previous offenders with people at risk of committing gun crimes to help them with conflict management, public safety director Tony Ingram said.
The city hired three people, called “credible messengers,” who have worked with 30 people at risk of committing gun violence. The messengers have also done 40 hospital visits and conducted hundreds of phone calls this year, he said.
“They come from the communities that are most at risk, are known in those communities, are able to interact and engage in ways that we in the traditional systems have, quite frankly, not been able to,” Ingram said.
Ingram shared an anecdote of one of the messengers working with a young person whose father was recently sentenced to a long prison sentence.
“Naturally, he began to exhibit some different symptoms of that trauma of losing his father,” Ingram said. “Our street team engaged with him.”
That person expressed interest in becoming a firefighter, Ingram said. The messengers connected the individual with Fire Chief Leon Henderson, who talked with him about his career in the department, he said.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik applauded the street team’s efforts so far.
“I think that's such a great example of the importance of this work and what it can do by touching just one individual and eventually that can have ripple effects in our community,” Malik said.
The city is working on a formal evaluation process to measure the pilot program’s impact, Malik added.
Crisis intervention team to expand
Meanwhile, a crisis intervention response team will be expanding its services this year.
Since the Summit County Outreach Team program, referred to as SCOUT, launched last year, it’s responded to 1,051 weekday calls for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, Henderson said.
Emergency responders go to calls alongside representatives from community mental health agencies to connect individuals in crisis with the resources they may need, he said.
“The goal is to stabilize the situation, reduce the need for emergency department visits or law enforcement involvement, and connect individuals with appropriate ongoing care by offering timely, compassionate, and specialized assistance,” Henderson said.
The next goal, Henderson said, is to expand SCOUT's availability to Saturdays, he said.
“We plan on functioning that unit from 8:30 to 4:30 later this year,” Henderson said.
Last year’s data shows a need to expand the team, he said.
A new public safety project on the horizon involves youth sports, Malik added.
City officials are in the beginning stages of increasing funding for sports and wellness programs for youth, Malik added. They also plan to work with Project Play, a national initiative focused on enhancing youth involvement in sports to improve crime and health outcomes, Malik said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
