CINCINNATI — Downtown business owners are calling for clarity and transparency from city officials amid Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge's administrative leave, saying they refuse to let crime solutions become a political blame game.
For months, business owners have expressed safety concerns in the area amid ongoing violence. Now, some tell us they believe city officials are trying to make Theetge a "political scapegoat," and they want answers about what's really happening behind the scenes.
"That's what I think everybody believes is going to happen, that there will be some settlement, there will be a new police chief," said Victor Louis, CEO and president of One Logistics Network. "No, we as the citizens and business owners want some clarity, and we want some transparency as to what's going on, and we want some transparency as to what's going to be done moving forward."
We spoke with Louis, who is in the process of moving his business from downtown after a series of violent incidents, about his questions on leadership accountability.
"Where is the mayor? He obviously won't comment on this situation. So here we are, citizens and business owners, left scratching our heads as to what is going on. Meanwhile, there's more incidents and crime going on every day," said Louis.
In a statement, Mayor Aftab Pureval spoke about Theetge's leave and interim Chief Adam Hennie, saying, "I am grateful for Chief Theetge’s decades of service. I have full confidence in Interim Chief Hennie, and City Manager Long and I had the opportunity to meet with him and his Assistant Chiefs this morning."
Pureval said during the meeting, they discussed with Hennie his plans, including more use of "technology, visibility and rapid response to critical incidents — on top of spearheading the recommendations from the climate assessment."
According to Finney Law Firm at a recent press conference, Theetge had several proposals and ideas to improve the situation that were vetoed.
When asked if he feels the mayor is using Theetge to shift blame for crime in the city, Louis responded without hesitation.
"Without a question," Louis said.
WATCH: Cincinnati business leaders say crime solutions shouldn't become a political blame game
Neal Sebastian, owner of the Street Corner Market at The Banks, supports Hennie but said he'll only be as effective as the city lets him be.
"He's more than capable of doing this job; he will be good at this job, but only if the city allows him to do it right; it can only be as effective as they'll allow him to be," said Sebastian.
Many business owners declined to speak on-camera because they say this issue has become too political.
"The election is 14 days away; it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on. All of this makes it glaringly obvious we do need to separate police work and politics in this city if we ever want to see anything change," said Sebastian.
However, they maintain there's still a need for solutions, and getting rid of the chief is not the answer.
"It seems that the police don't have the authority to make the decisions that are needed," said Louis. "So it's not really who is in charge. It's the structure in which the police are operating within the city, and we, as the citizens and business owners, we have no clear direction as to who's in charge and what is being done."
