Cincinnati’s top cop was recently placed on administrative leave after a string of violent incidents downtown and a public message that sounded more like a PTA lecture than law enforcement leadership. Residents and business owners say the city is floundering while elected officials scramble to find a scapegoat, and many wonder whether the real problem is soft policies from City Hall, not just one police chief.
Theetge’s much-quoted admonition — “learn how to behave” and “do not come downtown if you don’t know how to behave” — was met with incredulity and anger because it treats victims and law-abiding citizens like the problem instead of hitting violent offenders with real consequences. When your message to criminals is a lecture instead of a warning about arrests and prosecutions, you telegraph weakness and invite more lawlessness.
This is not an isolated misstep. Theetge has weathered outrage all summer after viral footage of a brutal downtown mob beating exposed a vacuum of police presence and accountability, and her critics say she’s repeatedly blamed social media and citizens for holding the city to account. Americans who want safe streets are tired of moralizing from the podium while real violence tears up communities.
Local business owners are livid and demanding transparency, insisting they won’t accept being told to be patient while downtown becomes a no-go zone for families and customers. Many believe City Hall is using the chief as political cover days before an election, which is exactly the kind of partisan theater that puts cops between impossible mandates and the public’s fury.
The larger truth here is painfully familiar: a revolving door of weak prosecutions and soft-on-crime policies have made enforcement feel pointless, and when chiefs are told to “manage optics” rather than enforce the law, neighborhoods pay the price. If Cincinnati wants to stop the slide, it needs leaders who will back officers to do their job, prosecutors who will lock up violent repeat offenders, and mayors who stop weaponizing the police for political convenience.
Teresa Theetge is a career officer with decades on the force and the distinction of being Cincinnati’s first female police chief, but experience alone doesn’t inoculate leadership from failed policies or political interference. Conservatives who believe in law and order shouldn’t applaud the firing line she’s been put on — we should demand reforms that support cops, punish criminals, and restore public safety so hardworking Americans can go downtown without fear.
