Speaker 1: By Billy Cunningham, the great American. Of course, the issue
Speaker 1: of the firing Charlie Say, administrative discharge in a sense
Speaker 1: of Chief of Police Thigi is on the front burner
Speaker 1: and it's one of the big election issues coming up
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. In the studio with me? Now, is Captain
Speaker 1: russ Neville retired? Is that correct? How many years you've
Speaker 1: been four thirty four years? Did you enjoy it?
Speaker 2: I did? I enjoyed it, respect it, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, you're the brother, let's get it out
Speaker 1: there of Terry Thigi. She is your sister, correct, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: A little bit of the history of Chief Thiji A
Speaker 1: mother of four? Is that correct?
Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
Speaker 1: She went through the whole police department from bottom to
Speaker 1: top with four kids, and I guess there are adults
Speaker 1: by this point. And then how many grandchildren does she have?
Speaker 2: She has nine grandchildren.
Speaker 1: So the city manager and Mary wants to fire a
Speaker 1: mother and a grandmother. Correct, yes, Tell me about Tell
Speaker 1: me about your feelings about what happened to Chief Thigi
Speaker 1: and why was so unfair?
Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a combination of reasons. But the
Speaker 2: way it came about is ridiculously unfair, bordering on inhumane.
Speaker 2: There were opportunities for communication that could have ended in
Speaker 2: a different fashion. Basically, what they did is they forced
Speaker 2: her to fight, and we're not going to walk away
Speaker 2: from a fight. She dedicated thirty five years to the city.
Speaker 2: She was a good team player, a leader. She is
Speaker 2: not and I emphasized not a DEI higher. She earned
Speaker 2: everything she got through her thirty five years. She was
Speaker 2: mentored by some of the best and brightest minds of
Speaker 2: this organization over the last thirty five years. Tom Striker,
Speaker 2: Jim Whalen, Vince Demassi. Not bad, not bad at all.
Speaker 2: So if anybody wants to throw DEI out related to Terry,
Speaker 2: they are way off base.
Speaker 1: She earned it, earned it a hard way, the hard way,
Speaker 1: being a mother and a grandmother while being in a
Speaker 1: cop You mentioned this the other day. Not easy. It's
Speaker 1: hard for a man, a father, much less a mother
Speaker 1: and a grandma. Been put in sixty seventy hours a
Speaker 1: week on behalf of the people of Cincinnati. And she
Speaker 1: did it without without reservation, without anger, without frustration. She
Speaker 1: did her job.
Speaker 2: She did it with pride and commitment and dedication and care.
Speaker 2: I couldn't begin to tell the amount Terry cares regarding
Speaker 2: the communities. And I mean all fifty two, not one
Speaker 2: or two, like the mayor, all fifty two communities, all demographics.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter to Terry. What's right is right, and
Speaker 2: what service needs to be provided shall be provided.
Speaker 1: Why was she I'll use the term fired, because that's
Speaker 1: where it's coming. I can't imagine after this review, bought
Speaker 1: and paid for by the mayor, the law firm that
Speaker 1: he hired, is going to come back and say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, Mayor, you're wrong. You know what's going to
Speaker 1: come in a couple months is smearing of thief chief Fiji. Well,
Speaker 1: why do you think it happened.
Speaker 2: I think it happened because she had a desire to
Speaker 2: provide services to the community that would reduce diminish impact
Speaker 2: violent crime. And I think she had thoughts, plans, and
Speaker 2: ideas on that. And I will leave it at that
Speaker 2: for now until things work themselves out going forward. And
Speaker 2: I believe the mayor had a different opinion.
Speaker 1: As far as the administrative put on the administrative leave
Speaker 1: with pay of your sister. The mayor said a day
Speaker 1: or two after this happened, we're going to start enforcing
Speaker 1: the law. We're going to have misdemeanors being enforced. You know,
Speaker 1: as a cop, you come from a family of cops
Speaker 1: going back about one hundred years that when you enforce
Speaker 1: the broken window theory of law enforcement, when someone is
Speaker 1: taking drugs in public, when someone is sleeping on a
Speaker 1: public sidewalk, when someone is shooting through a window and
Speaker 1: he's classified as property damage, you know something's wrong. Do
Speaker 1: you think the mayor got the message that somehow you
Speaker 1: cops are going to have to start enforcing the law
Speaker 1: because it hasn't happened so far.
Speaker 2: I couldn't begin to tell you what message the mayor got,
Speaker 2: but I will offer to you those services are provided
Speaker 2: lesser crimes are focused on and were focused on under Terry.
Speaker 2: But the reality it is Bill, if there's a revolving
Speaker 2: door at the justice center, or if there's early release
Speaker 2: for no justified reason, placing people back into the communities
Speaker 2: where they just victimized people without accountability one through fifteen times,
Speaker 2: it's irrelevant. They there needs to be something done to
Speaker 2: control the early release and the offenders being placed back
Speaker 2: out into the streets without any accountability.
Speaker 1: That's not on the coppers it's not on the cops.
Speaker 2: It's on the judges exactly. And I am here to
Speaker 2: say the cops work hard. I'm not criticizing for one
Speaker 2: second the officers of Cincinnati or any agency in Hamilcanty
Speaker 2: and beyond. I'm here to tell you that the administrative
Speaker 2: suspension of Terry was in humaine unjust. And let's think
Speaker 2: about the fact that it's asked backwards. You place your
Speaker 2: ound administrative suspension, then you decide you're going to hire
Speaker 2: a law firm, and your conducting investigation determined why you
Speaker 2: placed yourun administrative suspension. I'll leave the rest of that lawyer,
Speaker 2: mister m and Terry. But everybody with a lick of
Speaker 2: sense understands what this is about, what's driving it, who's
Speaker 2: driving it, And that's where I think the conversation needs
Speaker 2: to go as we go forward. Today.
Speaker 1: I think Channel twelve had this report about the emails,
Speaker 1: the text messages back and forth. A precipitating factor, according
Speaker 1: to Cheryl Long, was that your sister Chief Thiji joined
Speaker 1: the Hamlety County Police Chiefs Group without the permission of
Speaker 1: the city manager or the mayor. Was that a made
Speaker 1: up Was that precipitating it wasn't unusual for the chief
Speaker 1: of police of Cincinnati, which is about what about forty
Speaker 1: percent of the county to join a group of other
Speaker 1: police chiefs. Is that a bad act? Was that wrong
Speaker 1: for Thiji to do?
Speaker 2: I don't see why it was wrong or how it
Speaker 2: could be wrong. I mean, it's part of your responsibilities
Speaker 2: as the head of an organization is to communicate with
Speaker 2: heads of other organizations and put together strategies and plans.
Speaker 2: I just have to leave it at that until anything
Speaker 2: goes forward involving the case that may be pending.
Speaker 1: Well, what is does Chief Thiji want her job back?
Speaker 2: I can't speak for her Bill either. I talked to
Speaker 2: her every day.
Speaker 1: You must talk to her every day. Talk to her
Speaker 1: because she want her job back.
Speaker 2: I'm going to refrain from answering a question based on
Speaker 2: mister M's recommendations. Let me say this.
Speaker 1: I would say no, because how do you work in
Speaker 1: that environment when you can't implement the policies and procedures
Speaker 1: you want to implement. Because the city manager and the mayor,
Speaker 1: and I guess Counsel Scottie Johnson others are saying, don't
Speaker 1: do that. In other words, put in speed bumps, don't
Speaker 1: pull people over for traffic offenses. I had on the
Speaker 1: corner about a month ago, and she was going to
Speaker 1: a big event, I think Fiddler on the Roof at
Speaker 1: the Music Hall, and she and a retired federal judge
Speaker 1: felt threatened walking across Washington Park when they left the
Speaker 1: play early because they knew they had to get back
Speaker 1: to the car before dark. Those are the things that
Speaker 1: I think that the police should administer and take care
Speaker 1: of that the police directly indirectly receive orders or indications
Speaker 1: from the city manager or the mayor not to enforce
Speaker 1: certain statutes. I think that was the case. That's why
Speaker 1: the mayor said we're going to start enforcing the criminal law.
Speaker 1: Was there a sense under your sister's leadership that she
Speaker 1: was told directly or indirectly by expression or implication not
Speaker 1: to enforce certain criminal statutes.
Speaker 2: Not that I'm aware of, and I talked to her
Speaker 2: every day, and I think it is something that needs
Speaker 2: to be kept between her and her attorney and for
Speaker 2: any future purposes. So I really do refrain from discussing it, Bill,
Speaker 2: because it is right for her going forward with any
Speaker 2: potential when will she speak when her attorneys when the
Speaker 2: case is settled potentially.
Speaker 1: So going back to my point, does she want her
Speaker 1: job back? You can't say yes to that.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to answer that. I will tell you this,
Speaker 2: you wouldn't want it. I wouldn't want it. My brother Mike,
Speaker 2: who's in the studio with us, wouldn't want it. But
Speaker 2: I'm not going to speak for Terry.
Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you and your brother Mike went Why wouldn't
Speaker 1: someone who's come up through the ranks from the bottom
Speaker 1: of the top not want the job today?
Speaker 2: Well today, meaning only under these circumstances wanting the job
Speaker 2: prior to this happening to her, I would have even
Speaker 2: wanted it at that point. But under these circumstances, why
Speaker 2: would anybody want to go back and work and report
Speaker 2: to two individuals that have treated them so inhumanely. One
Speaker 2: reason somebody may want to do it because they care
Speaker 2: about the community, and they care about the members of
Speaker 2: the organization, and they appreciate the support they're getting from
Speaker 2: each of those. So you have to balance those elements
Speaker 2: and reporting to two people who treat it so inhumanely,
Speaker 2: who clearly don't want you there, And let's emphasize it
Speaker 2: is two people Bill, it's not one.
Speaker 1: What was it inhumane about her discharge?
Speaker 2: It was done in a shockingly surprising way. She didn't
Speaker 2: see it coming, didn't see it coming. It was done
Speaker 2: after a text notification to come back from a police
Speaker 2: common difference where she was there to represent the city
Speaker 2: of Cincinnati and the police department in an honorable a
Speaker 2: leadership fashion, and it was done with minimal to no communication.
Speaker 2: And I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 1: From chera Long's perspective, why do it then? It's like embarrassing.
Speaker 1: According to media accounts, someone was listening to me at
Speaker 1: one seventeen PM. Somebody told me her days were in
Speaker 1: the single digits.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I heard you.
Speaker 1: And she goes to I was told that. And so
Speaker 1: she goes to Denver for this national deal and I'm
Speaker 1: thinking this isn't good. But somebody approved her trip to Denver.
Speaker 1: She didn't do this. Did city manager approve her trip
Speaker 1: to Denver? I couldn't tell you the process on who
Speaker 1: approved it.
Speaker 2: Bill. She had authorization to go to Denver and represent
Speaker 2: the City of Cincinnati, the police Department, in the constituents
Speaker 2: of Cincinnati and represent them in high fashion, in high order, honorably,
Speaker 2: and she was summoned back shot.
Speaker 1: Would you say she was shocked at that maneuver by
Speaker 1: Cheryl Long.
Speaker 2: I would say she was caught that she needed to
Speaker 2: come back so quickly.
Speaker 1: Because right now, as I understand it, she's an I
Speaker 1: WILL employee. That means she can be fired for a
Speaker 1: good reason, a bad reason, or no reason. It can't
Speaker 1: be an illegal reason. But if the city manager would
Speaker 1: say to Teresa Theichi, you know things aren't going very well,
Speaker 1: I have to let you go. Let's talk about how
Speaker 1: we do this. That's different than what happened. Correct, That
Speaker 1: is definitely different than what happened. So she gave an
Speaker 1: interview somewhere that she said she sent a text or
Speaker 1: something Sheryl Long that said, I got thirty five years
Speaker 1: in October twentieth as my anniversary. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: be here forever. I want to have some indication as
Speaker 1: to the future. Do you recall seeing that text. I'm
Speaker 1: aware that text is out there. And as far as
Speaker 1: her being out there, was she planning to retire anyway?
Speaker 1: Because when you say, you know, you've been at a
Speaker 1: job for a long time and somebody you get an
Speaker 1: indication things are going the wrong direction. When she said,
Speaker 1: I know I'm not going to be there forever. Was
Speaker 1: that an indication from her that she knew something was coming?
Speaker 2: Honestly cannot answer that. I don't know what her thought
Speaker 2: was when she sent that. I haven't discussed that text
Speaker 2: with her.
Speaker 1: Do you know how she was fired put on administrative leave?
Speaker 2: You know how? I truly don't. I don't recall if
Speaker 2: it's something she was told or if it was something
Speaker 2: that was notified by her attorney. I truly don't recall
Speaker 2: how it came to her.
Speaker 1: Was she shocked about that? She was caught off guard,
Speaker 1: off guard and it just came out of the blue. Yes,
Speaker 1: How is she doing today? This afternoon? Is she actually
Speaker 1: it's interesting you ask. Over a thousand people have asked
Speaker 1: me that question in the last two weeks. She's doing
Speaker 1: well as well as can be. She's spending she's doing
Speaker 1: as well as can be. She's she's she's terry, she's
Speaker 1: a leader, she's confident, she's independent, she's capable to overcome anything.
Speaker 1: But with that said, it's a kick to the gut.
Speaker 1: It's internally straining.
Speaker 2: Her. Her feelings are hurt, her reputation has been tarnished.
Speaker 2: But with that said Bill, she I gid you not.
Speaker 2: She is approached everywhere we go, or she goes in
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty mile radius of Cincinnati, with people
Speaker 2: saying they support her, they believe in her, they know
Speaker 2: what's really going on, they know it's politics. She was
Speaker 2: at the Bengals game the other day and there were
Speaker 2: people yelling from two stamp two levels up down to
Speaker 2: her saying we support you, we believe in you. Keep
Speaker 2: fighting the fight. But with that said, that's all great, right,
Speaker 2: that's all awesome for her to hear. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, there's the internal hit that comes with that
Speaker 2: of what she's going through that would even cause people
Speaker 2: to need to yell that out to her and show
Speaker 2: that support to her. But she's doing as well as
Speaker 2: anybody could do under this situation.
Speaker 1: She's going sixty seventy miles an hour. All of a
Speaker 1: sudden there's a crash and at this point she I
Speaker 1: guess four kids, how many grandkids?
Speaker 2: Nine?
Speaker 1: Nine, maybe some on the way. She's a mother and
Speaker 1: a grandmother, and now she's going to care for her family,
Speaker 1: and she's always cared for her family. Now she's always
Speaker 1: physically present. She wasn't physically present. I would think for
Speaker 1: a long part of her life because she was a cop,
Speaker 1: and going forward, who knows what's going to happen. I
Speaker 1: think the important takeaway is Number One, she was shocked
Speaker 1: about what happened. Number Two, your indications are she won't
Speaker 1: take the job back as it's presently constituted.
Speaker 2: Because I don't mix it up. I'm not indicating one
Speaker 2: or the other. I'm telling you I don't know what
Speaker 2: Terry's answer that definitively is or would be. And even
Speaker 2: if I did, and I wouldn't share it, I would
Speaker 2: let her do it and her attorney do it at
Speaker 2: due time. What I'm telling you is you wouldn't take
Speaker 2: it back. I wouldn't take it back, and Mike wouldn't
Speaker 2: take it back. But Terry's independent, Terry's confident, and that's
Speaker 2: for Terry to decide if that ever comes to fruition.
Speaker 1: Is there some information she has about the mayor or
Speaker 1: the city manager that would require her to sign an
Speaker 1: NDA in order to get the settlement?
Speaker 2: To my knowledge, none of those discussions have taken place,
Speaker 2: and if they've had, Terry's kept them between herself and
Speaker 2: her attorney.
Speaker 1: So there may be something that you can make public
Speaker 1: to embarrass the city behavior.
Speaker 2: No, I'm just responding to the NBA. I don't know
Speaker 2: the embarrassment side of it, Bill, I can't answer it.
Speaker 2: I think there are things that took place in her
Speaker 2: in her career during her administration that would benefit her
Speaker 2: through litigation, but I don't know what those are at
Speaker 2: this time, and we'll just have to leave it that
Speaker 2: way until mister m decides what to do with what
Speaker 2: information he compiles, or what he chooses to do.
Speaker 1: Going forward to Davis with Chris Finny Law firm, a
Speaker 1: week before all these events transpired, she was, in your view,
Speaker 1: respected by Cheryl long respected. I can recall we had
Speaker 1: numerous news conferences on the air. It was af Tab,
Speaker 1: it was Cheryl and and it was long and also Thiji.
Speaker 1: The three of them stood up there. Questions were asked
Speaker 1: of the mayor, for example, are you satisfied with the
Speaker 1: chief of police? Every time it was yes, Yes, her
Speaker 1: evaluations were exceptional or above exceptional, whatever the that is,
Speaker 1: and that this was up to the moment she was
Speaker 1: put on administrative leave. Was there a triggering event that
Speaker 1: went from exceptional to your gone? Because normally in normal life,
Speaker 1: you if you have a bad employee, you give them
Speaker 1: bad reviews. You know you got to improve this, got
Speaker 1: to do that. I've seen the reviews. They're off the charts.
Speaker 1: Teresa Tiji was at the top. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: she's gone. What happened in those two or three days
Speaker 1: that caused that to transpire? When the mayor says she's
Speaker 1: better in sliced bread, now she's going to be sliced,
Speaker 1: what happened?
Speaker 2: It's the question for the mayor to answer. It's a question.
Speaker 2: He's not a question for the mayor answer. It's a
Speaker 2: question for the manager.
Speaker 1: She's not talking.
Speaker 2: You're correct, and we don't know what it is that
Speaker 2: caused this to happen.
Speaker 1: Bill, yesterday, you're looking at the mayor. You were sitting
Speaker 1: at that table. You've been in public service in Cincinnati
Speaker 1: for more than thirty years, a captain well known, the
Speaker 1: family and Neville family is well known. You look at
Speaker 1: the mayor and you said, we need a strongly or
Speaker 1: a week leader. What did you say to the mayor
Speaker 1: and he did not respond to you? Man to man
Speaker 1: Eyeball to eyeball, what did you say to Aftab?
Speaker 2: Basically, I basically shared that the city is under week leadership,
Speaker 2: whether it be him or the manager. I said that,
Speaker 2: I think people who are going out to vote need
Speaker 2: to make a decision on what's most important to them.
Speaker 2: Is it going forward, is it improvement or is it
Speaker 2: maintaining a loyalty or commitment to whatever thought process you
Speaker 2: have that have placed him in there. And I offered
Speaker 2: to people not to vote for the coward.
Speaker 1: So you're calling Aftab pure of all, a coward.
Speaker 2: I called him a coward.
Speaker 1: What about Cheryl Long?
Speaker 2: Cheryl Long wasn't there. She's out there, she skipped, She
Speaker 2: wasn't there. She did arrive. I think as we were
Speaker 2: leaving chambers, I did not see her go in. I
Speaker 2: was told she came in after we had left chambers.
Speaker 2: So that's where we are.
Speaker 1: She did a great job in North College Hill. Now
Speaker 1: she's doing it for the people of Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the decision making of those that are in charge. Now,
Speaker 2: Bill that has us where we are. That mayor has
Speaker 2: no he generates no benefit to the city of Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: He does not, truly, truly, in his gut, in his heart,
Speaker 2: care about the people of Cincinnati, the constituents. He's wasting money,
Speaker 2: he's wasting resources. He treated a thirty five year veteran
Speaker 2: of this department like the trash to be thrown out.
Speaker 2: And I think the voters please please understand that literally
Speaker 2: crime if things hadn't happened in the downtown business district,
Speaker 2: I don't know that this happens. The American answer that
Speaker 2: litigation may answer that I don't know, but I will
Speaker 2: offer you have crime plateaus, you have an ebb and
Speaker 2: flow of crime throughout the other fifty one neighborhoods. Mayor
Speaker 2: has never shown this type of response and benefit or
Speaker 2: support of those neighborhoods. And I think I think it's
Speaker 2: I'm not thinking. I'm certain this is a political decision.
Speaker 2: It's a scapegoat situation. I think he's weak. I think
Speaker 2: he's a coward, and I think he's bad for this city.
Speaker 2: And I wish people would come out, get out of
Speaker 2: their comfort zone, vote for new leadership. And I really
Speaker 2: believe this. If you want to go down to council
Speaker 2: and vote for four or five of the current council members,
Speaker 2: do it. Do it, get some new council representative. And
Speaker 2: there's Smitherman, Keating Curry, I think still Scottie Johnson actually
Speaker 2: on there now, some mixture, some new and some old blood,
Speaker 2: and let's see what can be done. But regarding the mayor,
Speaker 2: do not do not cast a vote for the marriage
Speaker 2: just because you're down there voting for the council representatives.
Speaker 2: Vote for new leadership. People know what that means. Vote
Speaker 2: for new leadership in that mayor seat. If you want
Speaker 2: to see economic improvement, if you want to see first
Speaker 2: responder management improvement, if you want to see humane treatment.
Speaker 2: I highly recommend people come out and those that haven't
Speaker 2: voted in ten years or so, Billy, check the website,
Speaker 2: see if their registration is still valid. Come out, come out.
Speaker 2: We're still sitting at twenty five twenty eight percent right now. Low.
Speaker 2: If we get that to say thirty five forty forty
Speaker 2: five fifty, specifically on the west side, Hyde Park, Mount
Speaker 2: look Out, Mount Washington, we can have new leadership. Yeah,
Speaker 2: people have to vote to get off. Vote off your
Speaker 2: duff and go do something. If you care, I mean
Speaker 2: if you don't care.
Speaker 1: If you don't care, don't vote, don't care. If you
Speaker 1: like the status quo, want to continue with this, you
Speaker 1: know what to do. Don't vote or vote for AFTAB
Speaker 1: you call him the coward of Cincinnati. You have to
Speaker 1: have puivault.
Speaker 2: Well, I think he's a bad manager. I think he's disloyal,
Speaker 2: I think he lies. I think he's a coward the
Speaker 2: way he's handled this. And you know what, a week
Speaker 2: and a half prior to this, he says to my
Speaker 2: brother that there's no light between he and the chief.
Speaker 2: While all this is brewing, apparently, I mean yesterday, my
Speaker 2: brother Mike has approached by Iris Rowley at council chambers
Speaker 2: to show support for Terry and how much she believes
Speaker 2: she's being mistreated and this is being let me finish
Speaker 2: this being mistreated, and how much she treats, appreciates and
Speaker 2: respects her and wishes things work out well. Whether Iris
Speaker 2: believes that or not, I don't know. But people who
Speaker 2: say those things, if you truly believe them, get out
Speaker 2: from behind closed doors and share it. It's not about Terry.
Speaker 2: It's about future seats for this chief position, the fire
Speaker 2: chief position. It's about the future of the city. Right.
Speaker 2: If we want to use Terry as a process of
Speaker 2: explaining it and have any opportunity to share it, okay,
Speaker 2: we'll do that. She shouldn't be going through it. But
Speaker 2: with that said, there's council members reach out and they say,
Speaker 2: how hey, we don't like the way this is being done.
Speaker 2: They sit there and they they toe the line, as
Speaker 2: you say, they tow the line, Bill, And that is
Speaker 2: that leadership, is that character. It's neither we.
Speaker 1: Got to run, Captain Russ Noville, good luck, get out
Speaker 1: and vote. We get the government we deserve. And at
Speaker 1: times that concerns me. Thank you, sir, captain, thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Than Bill Cunningham News Radio seven hundred WO