Upstate New York Police Officer Caught on Camera Making Racist Remarks to Be Terminated

An upstate New York police officer was caught on camera saying racist remarks toward and about Black people earlier this month according to the Times-Union. The police officer is heard saying, “They are the worst f__ing race.”

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins, who is Black, is planning on terminating the White police officer, David W. Haupt, who has been on the police force for four years. Hawkins had stated that Haupt had recently completed the department’s training courses on racial diversity and workplace violence. The department was reviewing Haupt’s personnel file and checking records of arrests he’s made to see if there were other incidents or potential complaints to look over. The city has already lodged disciplinary charges against Haupt that accuse him of conduct unbecoming a police officer.

In the video shown below, which was captured on November 1, Haupt could be heard complaining that the calls they receive are usually about Black people. (The comments start at 1:26.)

“My buddies listen to the scanner and they send me texts all the time, and they go, ‘Is the suspect ever a White male?’ and I go, ‘No.’ I know it sounds terrible to say, but I don’t give a f__ what anybody says, I sincerely don’t. Because bro, they are the worst f__ing race and I don’t—you can’t deny, like, over the last X amount of months, they are—you know because we work together—they are getting worse and worse, and people are defending that. Are you f__ing kidding me?”

Hawkins, who stated that he immediately suspended Haupt, explained the incident at hand during a press conference that can be seen below.

According to Face2FaceAfrica, Albany’s mayor, Kathy Sheehan, also made a statement about the incident.

“As mayor, I wanted to ensure that this individual was not on the job until we have an understanding of what occurred here,” she said. “And that statement in and of itself can be construed no other way that being a racist statement that does not reflect the values of the Albany Police Department.”