Officer fired for comments struggled with basics of job
Records show he failed to quickly answer calls, refused to take report
At face value, it was a simple call for service.
A city resident called police on Jan. 27, 2019, complaining that his washing machine had been stolen. He believed he knew who had stolen it, how they got in, and where they went.
But rather than take a report and notify his superiors of a felony burglary, as department policy required of him, Officer David Haupt instead asked the resident if they could just go to the suspect and ask for the appliance back.
Haupt was brought up on administrative charges for the incident and later recommended for suspension — but it was far from the only time superiors took issue with his job performance in the four years he worked for the department before officials moved to fire him after the Times Union revealed
in November 2020 he had been caught on an Albany County Sheriff deputy’s body camera calling Black people “the worst f__ing race.”
A sheriff ’s department employee flagged the video during a routine check and it was sent to Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ office, which forwarded it to the police department. The camera appeared to accidentally turn on and caught the two in conversation as Haupt pumped gas into his patrol car.
After Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins announced Haupt was being terminated, the Times Union requested a copy of his personnel and disciplinary file. Such police files were previously considered confidential until last year when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed a bill repealing the statute that ensured the records remained secret.
Haupt’s file paints a picture of an officer who repeatedly failed to complete basic parts of his job, including taking reports from residents and responding quickly enough to calls. On one occasion, he was sent to investigate after someone called 911 but never got out of his vehicle to investigate. Another time, he refused to take a report from a resident and lied about the circumstances around it.
Haupt’s performance was so lackluster that the department resorted to a three-month performance improvement plan in 2019 after an annual performance review found his job performance was below minimally acceptable standards.
Haupt’s single bright spot noted in the performance review was that he took constructive criticism well and would often work the desk, which other officers consider a “undesirable post,” the evaluation notes.
Alice Green, executive director for the Center for Law and Justice, reviewed Haupt’s file for the Times Union and raised several issues, including whether there were other officers in the department who shared similar views or if he had expressed racist views before but just never been disciplined.
Green also said that Haupt’s attitude toward his job was an example of how poor police work could increase distrust of officers among residents. She added she hoped the city’s Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative would look at how effective the department’s employee improvement plans are.
“It’s so clear that this guy could not adequately perform his duties,” she said. “That’s a public safety issue.”
Hawkins defended the steps the department took when asked by the Times Union, saying his review of Haupt’s file showed a “textbook” case of progressive discipline — and commended Haupt’s superiors for the actions they took over the years to spot problems and get him additional training.
“What we want to determine is, are these officers salvageable? Can these deficiencies be corrected through training and mentoring?” he said. “We invest a lot of time in the academy. And if we can’t, we (terminate them).”
Hawkins noted that for “egregious offenses,” such as racism or sexual harassment, the department moves directly to firing officers.
Haupt, who remains suspended with pay under the police officer union’s contract, is fighting to get his job back. Neither he nor his attorneys could be reached for immediate comment.
Haupt started his career on the right foot. Within his first four months on the job after graduating from the police academy, he had two letters in his file commending him for his work. Twice, residents wrote to either Mayor Kathy Sheehan or then-chief Brendan Cox for actions Haupt took.
But in 2018, he was verbally counseled and received written and verbal reprimands for several incidents, including multiple times where he failed to respond to calls in a timely manner. In that year, Haupt made just eight arrests. All were in response to calls for service, rather than through proactive policing. He did one field interview and wrote zero traffic tickets. His salary that year was $64,059.
By January 2019, the department decided that Haupt needed help. The department paired him with a mentor, barred him from spending shifts at a desk job and required sergeants to go to any calls he went on to observe his performance for three months.
His performance continued to struggle.
In one May 2019 incident, Haupt allegedly ignored a direct order. A supervisor told him to conduct a prostitution detail along Central Avenue, doing field interviews with possible prostitutes. The supervisor went on vacation the next day and when he returned, he discovered that Haupt had ignored his assignment.
In a disciplinary notice, the department noted that Haupt did not ask any other supervisors for help or clarification on what he was supposed to do. Haupt’s defense was that he thought his sergeant would be assisting with the detail when he returned from vacation.
In October 2019, the department moved to suspend Haupt for a total of 40 days without pay, citing eight department regulations he violated over the past ten months. Haupt chose to contest them through arbitration and the matter was still pending when he was fired 11 months later.
Frank Wiley, the former chief of the University at Albany’s police department, said that in general collective bargaining agreements in police departments can allow for problematic or substandard officers to remain employed. In New York, the arbitration process often used by local governments and unions take months or years to resolve.
“Arbitration can diminish the significant value of serious discipline,” said Wiley, who currently teaches at the state University at Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity.
“When is quality sacrificed by the collective bargaining agreement? When does the employee-centric philosophy of collective bargaining interfere with the safety and quality of life of a community? At some point they come to a cross-purpose.”