Councilman law&order

Like most politicians, Cincinnati Councilman Jim Tarbell promises to fight for the betterment of the people. Unlike most, however, he means it literally.

Friday night he took on a loud and hostile panhandler outside Kaldi’s Coffee House on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. First he told the guy to stop bothering people, then he got in his car, pulled out his cell phone and called the police. According to Tarbell, the man reached into the car, grabbed the phone and whacked the vice-mayor upside the head with it. They tussled, Tarbell got decked and the robber took off – with the phone.

Not to be a victim, Tarbell accompanied the police on a cruise around the neighborhood, spotted the suspect and watched the arrest of Larry Smith.

According to news accounts, this is at least the third time since 2001 that Tarbell has personally stood up to criminals. In 2004 he faced down three teens with a knife in an alley near City Hall. A year earlier broke up a fight and helped police chase down a fleeing suspect. And once he chased a prowler away from his house with a broom.

Now people shouldn’t take from all this derring-do that Tarbell is a violent man. Far from it. What he is, is a proud citizen who won’t be intimidated by people intent on interfering with the peace and good order of the community. He believes in standing up to the crooks and giving the police every bit of help he can. We could use more like him.