CINCINNATI — One day after city officials announced Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge had been placed on leave, attorneys hired by Theetge called the move a "hasty and unlawful decision."
The city announced Monday Theetge had been placed on paid administrative leave "pending an internal investigation into the effectiveness of her leadership."
"The City continues to face serious public safety challenges that underscore the need for stability at the command level. Therefore, I’ve named Assistant Chief Adam Hennie as Interim Police Chief," City Manager Sheryl Long said in a statement. "Our focus remains on maintaining stability within the department and ensuring the highest standards of service to our residents. I have full confidence in Interim Chief Hennie and the department’s command staff to continue their dedicated work at this time."
Finney Law Firm, which represents Theetge, held a press conference on Tuesday morning to discuss the decision. Attorney Stephen Imm said that Theetge was told she would be placed on leave the day of her 35th anniversary with the department.
Imm called the decision "disheartening" and said Theetge was devastated — but that the city has no reason to take action against her.
You can watch the full press conference below:
"In fact, the city does not even claim to have cause for removing her from her job," Imm said.
He said her employment is governed by the city's charter and, after six months of employment, she can only be dismissed for cause — much like former Cincinnati Fire Chief Michael Washington, who has filed a lawsuit against the city for his March 2023 firing. Washington is also being represented by Finney Law Firm.
"She is being used as a political scapegoat and a political pawn," Imm said. "Terri deserves better than this. Cincinnati deserves better than this."
When asked if Theetge planned to file a lawsuit against the city, Imm said they are considering all options.
Imm said, ultimately, Theetge wants to be allowed to get back to work as Cincinnati's police chief — she is not looking to leave the Cincinnati Police Department. He added that she won't accept a lesser position.
He also said she has no plans to resign from her role, despite city officials asking her to late last week.
"She was given no reason for that request," Imm said. "She did not initiate discussions about her resignation and she had no desire to resign. She has no desire to resign. She has no intention to resign."
When asked whether Theetge would still be in her role if an election deciding the fate of the mayor's office and city council seats wasn't two weeks away, Imm said he believed she would.
"They're looking for a scalp, they're looking for a scapegoat," Imm said.
Imm said he believed the decision to put Theetge on leave came not from Long or her office, but from Pureval himself.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Pureval said he is "grateful" for Theetge and has "full confidence in Hennie as interim chief.
"During that meeting, we discussed his planned emphasis on greater use of technology, visibility, and rapid response to critical incidents — on top of spearheading the recommendations from the climate assessment," Pureval said. "At this moment and moving forward, our focus remains on keeping Cincinnatians safe.”
We asked Imm about the investigation the city is conducting into Theetge and who would be responsible for it.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Imm said. "This is a situation where a sentence has already been passed on Terri and now the city is looking to see if they can find a crime that she committed."
Rumors about Theetge's status with the department began spreading after a shooting on Fountain Square last week.
Theetge first became interim police chief in February 2022 when former chief Eliot Isaac retired from the department. After a months-long search for Isaac's replacement, Theetge was announced as the first woman to lead the Cincinnati Police Department in December 2022.
The west-sider was the highest-ranking female official in CPD history before becoming chief, serving as executive assistant police chief from 2020 to 2022 after decades with the department.
Hear what Cincinnati leaders had to say about the news:
When she became chief, Theetge spoke at length about addressing ongoing gun violence, as well as officer wellness and recruiting. Those three items continued to be top issues in Cincinnati during her tenure.
Most recently, the city accepted help from Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio State Highway Patrol after a reported increase in crime this summer.
While police data showed that shootings are down within city limits, data from the summer also showed that crime reports in downtown Cincinnati were on the rise. That includes home burglaries, hundreds of vehicle break-ins and a violent August fight that garnered national attention.
The city announced a safety plan to address these issues, which included implementing a curfew, adding more CPD patrols and utilizing volunteers and violence interrupters. Yet, Mayor Aftab Pureval noted after a downtown shooting in October that "the violence persists."
"We need to make (downtown) a safer place for businesses. For people to patronize those businesses. For the people who live in this city," Theetge said after the shooting at Fountain Square in October.
Additionally, CPD remains around 100 officers short of its full complement of 1,059 officers. This summer, we spoke with Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober, who said officers are stretched too thin — even without the additional patrols added in the city's safety plan.
In September, Cincinnati City Council approved spending an additional $5.4 million this year on public safety efforts that include police staffing and training.
FOP President Ken Kober told us replacing the chief "is not the answer" to violence.
"There are three options: Repeal Issue 5 so the Police Chief isn’t under the thumb of an elected official, convince the mayor to allow the Chief to do her job independently or residents vote for a new mayor. Otherwise we will remain at status quo with violence in this city," Kober previously said.
"Placing Chief Theetge on leave doesn't solve a damn thing," Kober said in a press release. "It just spotlights Pureval's inability to lead and his habit of hiding behind others when the heat turns up."
Imm said Theetge has been "touched and gratified by the overwhelming support" she has received from officers of the Cincinnati Police Department since the announcement of her leave was made.
WATCH: We dug into what Theetge said she wanted to focus on as chief
