CINCINNATI — In the aftermath of Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge being placed on leave, we wanted to hear how residents felt about the decision.
The city announced Monday Theetge had been placed on paid administrative leave “pending an internal investigation into the effectiveness of her leadership.”
That decision was made by City Manager Sheryl Long, who said in a statement to us, “The City continues to face serious public safety challenges that underscore the need for stability at the command level.” Long announced in that statement that Assistant Chief Adam Hennie will take over as interim police chief.
However, the news isn’t sitting well with many people.
“It’s crazy, it’s ludicrous,” said downtown resident Jack Seay.
Hear how residents feel about the chief being placed on paid leave in the video below:
Seay told us he doesn't believe placing the chief on leave will solve any issues.
"She's part of a team, and she can't cover all of the bases," Seay said. "There's got to be a coordinated effort on everybody's part."
Many people we spoke with recognized the concern over crime downtown.
It comes after an eventful summer that included the murder of a beloved Over-the-Rhine gym owner and a downtown brawl in late July.
Most recently, a shooting at Fountain Square left two people injured, including a teenager. That led to Theetge and Mayor Aftab Pureval announcing changes to their downtown safety plan the next day.
Less than a week later, the chief was placed on paid leave.
However, some residents question whether increased violence downtown is a matter of perception or reality.
That includes Karen Troup, who has lived downtown for 13 years.
"I think there's probably, and I don't know this for sure, but maybe more focus on what happens downtown than sometimes in other areas and other neighborhoods," Troup said.
Troup said she feels the city is relatively safe.
"Yeah, I'm concerned about crime when it happens, I know it happens in a lot of different neighborhoods as well," Troup said.
However, other residents, like Carolyn Martinez, said they feel crime is a real problem.
"My friends don't want to come down here," Martinez said. "They'll drive down, pick me up and we'll go somewhere else."
While Martinez and Troup don't see eye to eye on the perception versus reality, they said they both agree that placing the chief on paid leave isn't the answer.
"It won't change anything," Martinez said.
While talking to people downtown on Wednesday, we also spoke to Sabrina Parr. She works at Key Bail Bonds downtown.
Parr said she feels the problem starts in the courts.
"They do arrest these people, but if the judges let them out and there's no consequence, how is that in her control?" Parr said.
Parr said the bonds that some judges are giving criminals are too light.
"There's no discipline, and the same people are back every week," Parr said.
We heard similar concerns on Tuesday from Theetge's attorney, Stephen Imm.
During a news conference discussing the recent decision made by the city manager, Imm claimed that Theetge asked Pureval to speak to judges about repeat offenders being released with little to no bond.
Imm said Pureval refused to do that.
"There has to be a consequence, or it's going to continue," Parr said.
At a city council meeting Wednesday, Pureval said the claim that he was asked to speak directly to judges is not true.
