Hours after the city fired Police Chief Teresa Theetge, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval told the media he became disenchanted with her leadership last summer as concerns about crime in the city rose.
Theetge, Pureval said, had previously told the city manager she would step down but then changed her mind and demanded $7.5 million.
The city refused, Pureval said.
“My message to the taxpayers is we need the right people in the job,” Pureval said. “And $7.5 million is a nonstarter.”
City Manager Sheryl Long placed Theetge on paid leave in October after a double shooting on Oct. 13 on Fountain Square again again thrust the city into the national social media spotlight. Theetge’s attorney and family have said the city made her a scapegoat ahead of the November election.
Pureval says chief ignored safety concerns
After several high-profile incidents, including the stabbing death of an Over-the-Rhine business owner and resident in his home in June and a brawl on Fourth Street in Downtown in July, Pureval publicly backed Theetge.
On Oct. 14, he wouldn’t say whether he still had confidence in the chief. Theetge was placed on paid leave Oct. 20.
What changed between then? The chief failed to address the perception of safety in the city, Pureval said in the April 23 press conference.
He said the chief refused to fill walking and bike patrols. He also accused Theetge of refusing to collaborate, which echoed what the independent law firm FBT Gibbons, contracted by the city, concluded in a report released in March.
Pureval: ‘I had been frustrated’
Pureval said he told the chief he’d find the money for the patrols, because it would help the public’s perception of safety in the city.
The chief, he said, never fully staffed those patrols.
“I had been frustrated throughout the summer last year that I communicated to her, to the administration, about the fact that we needed to deal with the perception of crime,” Pureval said.
Theetge’s attorney, Steve Imm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the $7.5 million request.
Pureval said Theetge is not a scapegoat and he doesn’t blame her for crime in the city.
“What I hold her responsible for, though, is the response to that crime: proactive, innovative solutions, communication, partnership and collaboration,” Pureval said. “And there just wasn’t enough of that.”
Pureval said what’s next is up to the city manager
As for what’s next, Pureval deferred that question to the city manager, who has the sole power to hire and fire police chiefs. Pureval praised Interim Chief Adam Hennie, who has led the department since October.
“Our new (Cincinnati Police) leadership understands that perception is a really important priority for us,” Pureval said.
City Council members back Theetge’s firing
Not every City Council member had a response to Theetge’s firing. But the six who responded supported it.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mayor Aftab Pureval said fired chief demanded $7.5 million from city
Reporting by Scott Wartman, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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