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A Black police detective was recently suspended for using an N-word while arresting a white teenager who threw racial slurs at him, WXIX reports.
Cincinnati Police Detective Joehonny Reese was under internal investigation for uttering the N-word during an incident on Friday, September 2. Reese and another officer were working off-duty at Energy Nightclub at 700 W. Pete Rose Way when a drunk customer was brought out by bar security.
The unruly teenager was reportedly threatening both Black police officers and security staff and called them "fake n-words," according to Sgt. Dan Hills, the president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
“[Reese] used the same word when he told the drunk teenager that he wouldn’t be an n-word," Hills explained, per the news station. "Both officers showed remarkable restraint in the face of repeated racial slurs and gave the drunk teenager numerous chances to leave without being arrested."
The white patron tried assaulting the cops, who deployed their Taser and arrested him for disorderly conduct, the news station learned. Shortly after the incident, Reese turned in his badge and gun and was suspended for saying the N-word, according to FOP.
Interim Police Chief Teresa Theetge defended the investigation, saying it's her duty and responsibility to investigate any allegations against personnel "regardless of circumstances."
“Under my leadership, it is standard practice to temporarily suspend police powers until an investigation into the use of a racial slur is complete," she said.
This didn't sit right with the police union or Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, who are calling for Reese to be put back on duty.
“Given that Officer Reese actually said the n-word, Chief Theetge put him through the same process as other officers who used the n-word because fairness requires a consistent process,” Kearney told WXIX. “I expect the facts of the incident to lead to a positive outcome for Officer Reese. He should be fully exonerated and returned to duty.”
Reporters say the FOP's executive board voted unanimously last week for Theetge to reinstate Reese.
“If this idiotic decision isn’t reversed, the next vote the Cincinnati FOP takes will be one of no confidence in our interim chief,” Hills said.
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