In 37 years in law enforcement, Leis has aggressively battled Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, artist Robert Mapplethorpe and thousands of Hamilton County criminals.

But Cincinnati's No. 1 tough guy sounds shockingly insecure about Saturday's celebrity ballroom dance contest at the Dancing for the Stars benefit at Music Hall Ballroom.

"I can't dance very good, to be honest with you," says Leis somewhat sheepishly. It's a rare admission of failure for the 73-year-old sheriff. "I am not a dancer."

Leis and five other local personalities each will perform a 90-second swing dance with a professional partner. The event is patterned after ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and is a benefit for the Cincinnati Arts Association. Leis is paired with Bonita Brockert, who won last year's inaugural contest with Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens as her partner.

The dance floor competition includes Tony Award nominated actress Pam Myers; MidwestLatino President Michael Beck; WDBZ-AM talk-show host Lincoln Ware; WCPO-TV (Channel 9) weekend morning anchor Jenell Walton, and Cincinnati City Councilwoman Roxanne Qualls.

How in the world did Leis get handcuffed into this?

"I got a call from a woman I know, and she caught me at a very weak moment," Leis says. "I did it because it's for the arts program. I've got a certain obligation to the community, because I'm in public service, to give back a little."

Yes, it's true, Leis' daughter, Julie, was a Ben-Gals cheerleader. But Leis says she didn't get those genes from his side of the closet.

And yes, he's danced with wife Margery at wedding receptions. But Brockert, Leis' dance partner, describes his dance style this way: "He holds his wife, and moves from foot to foot."

Seated at his desk inside the Hamilton County Justice Center, Leis unfolds a paper with hand-written instructions: One, two, turn. Left foot, right foot, turn.

"I am laboring to learn this dance. I've tried to memorize it, but I'm not having much luck," he says.

Although the sheriff has worked out every morning for decades at the downtown Cincinnati Athletic Club, his muscles ache after rehearsals with Brockert at Covington's Step-N-Out dance studio.

Leis' competitors don't want to hear his excuses. They've known Tough Guy Si for years, and won't underestimate him in the ballroom.

"He's a former Marine, just like me," says Ware. "Once a Marine, you've got that instinct. You don't want to lose."

Ware, who enjoys dancing in clubs, says the swing dance discipline could be an advantage for Leis.

"I'm used to being loose. But in this dance, you have to have your shoulders stiff and stand up straight," Ware says.

"I've always considered myself a good dancer. But this is different than going out to the clubs."

Like Leis, Myers has kept the Ben-Gay handy after rehearsals with professional dance partner Piotr Witecki.

"I love to watch 'Dancing with the Stars.' I'm always very impressed with the dancers, because I know how hard it is. This has been exhausting," says Myers.

Despite 38 years in musicals and plays - and dancing on the 1970s "Sha Na Na" TV variety show - Myers doesn't consider herself the ringer in this contest. Broadway casting directors will tell you Myers can't dance, she says.

Qualls also has been working on her moves, studying a video of her dance partner, Jason Miklic.

"I have the video on my iPod, iPhone and computer. I'm looking at it at every opportunity," she says.

Qualls, a three-term Cincinnati mayor as a Democrat, also doesn't discount the Republican sheriff, because "he's very competitive." She hasn't thought much about the other contestants.

"Until I learn this dance, I'm my own competition," she says.

Walton believes her strongest competitor Saturday will be l Beck, with whom she has salsa danced at the Havana Martini Club, downtown.

"He will be very good, based on what I know," Walton says.

As for Leis? "You never know. He may be hiding something from us."

Not so, Leis says.

"I'm not going to show anybody up. I'm just doing this because I was asked. I just want to stay on my feet."