CINCINNATI — One year ago, Teresa Theetge took the oath to become Cincinnati's first permanent female police chief. Now in her 34th year on the force, the Cincinnati native, whose father was on the force, says she has prepared to become chief her whole career.
"I feel like I was very well prepared," Chief Theetge said. "My career has set me up for this. My mentors set me up for this."
She's proud to represent the department and the city.
"One of the first things I see when I am proceeding in to the downtown area is the skyline," says Theetge. "And when you see that downtown of our city, the skyline, it's kinda cool to think 'wow. I police this city.'"
In her first year as chief, Theetge says there were growing pains. Her family, she says, has been an inspiration and her support while she learned what an all-consuming job it can be. And she says she learned to delegate to her full complement of assistant chiefs on staff who can handle day-to-day issues with and for her.
She said she knows she has to do her job extraordinarily well so that the path is well-paved for another woman to one day lead the nearly 1,000 men and women in blue.
That number of officers has been a trouble spot this past year. An increase in officers retiring since the pandemic has put the Cincinnati Police Department down 120 officers. To combat this, the Chief Theetge says she is increasing recruit classes. A week ago, she welcomed in 46 new officers in the 114th recruit class and a new class begins in six weeks.
Additionally, she says she is looking at retention raises for current officers. Working out details for those raises, she admits, is complicated. She says the fears by some rank and file officers that the all-democrat city administration isn't anxious to increase the amount of officers on the streets, which would effectively 'de-police' by way of attrition, are unfounded.
"In fact, it has been the furthest from the conversations that I have had with the city. And what I have been told is, plan to have a class of 50 to 60 officers every nine months for the next 70 years. That is what they are budgeting."
She does understand officers who say they want to leave the force out of fear of having to shoot a juvenile. With juvenile crime rising dramatically in the past few years, officers now face the possibility that a child could be the one pointing a gun at them, forcing them to fire.
"What keeps me up at night?" asks Theetge. "It used to be a police officer involved in a shooting. Now it's heightened to the extent that officers are getting involved in a shooting that involves a 12, 13, 14 -year-old individual. I don't want the officers to feel like they can't protect themselves or others because somebody's a juvenile, but I know they're human. They do not ever want to take a life, especially a life of a juvenile."
Yet juvenile crime is a challenge for not just the department but the entire city. Theetge understands that and is working on solutions to stem the tide.
"What I'm seeing with youth in our community is lack of accountability. Anybody holding them accountable. Whether it's the family structure, whether it's the school system, whether it's the courts, and unfortunately what happens when you have that lack of accountability is the youth conduct ends up at the feet of the police. And we just can't have that. We should not be a solution to every problem."
Theetge says she's met with the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office and the Juvenile Court administration to make clear that juveniles must be held accountable and that the city's safety at large is of the utmost importance.
"Because we can't have a revolving door," Theetge said. "The officers cannot feel like their work is going for nothing when nobody is held accountable. Because they face the same individuals over and over again. And we used to see that with adults, but it's really disheartening when you're seeing it with juveniles."
Mental health can be challenging for officers, support staff and their families, so the Chief has created and expanded mental health services surrounding it. She says she had no interest knowing who is using the services, but she's thrilled when she hears that the program is being used. This is personal for her. Her father, after retiring from the force, took his own life. She knows, traditionally, cops aren't prone to ask for help and she's hoping that is changing through her administration.
"I just want to do right by the cops. I really do," says Theetge. "I want to do right by the community. I want to do right by the city administration. I owe it to all of them"
"We are a strong, strong city. You have a great police department in this city."
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