The mayor has appointed an acting chief of police to ensure that when Matulavich’s contract expires, the police force will have a chief in place. The acting chief will also be in charge of the APD during any time Matulavich may be out of the office between now and December 29.

Matulavich is currently on vacation.

The acting chief named by the mayor is a current Akron Deputy Police Chief, Major Craig V. Gilbride.

"I want to be clear. Never has there been a time when we have not had an acting chief in charge when the chief was not on duty," said the mayor. "The second-in-command always takes over when the chief is out. This will simply be more of a long-term decision since Mike’s work for the city will be done at the end of the month."

Also, the mayor announced that ongoing discussions with Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander over improving policing for both jurisdictions are going well.

"We met, along with Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Larry Givens Friday and had productive talks with the sheriff," said Plusquellic.

The discussions, aimed at creating a plan for smarter, better public safety methods have been going on during much of 2008.