Cincinnati police Officer Thomas Haas has been commended for saving someone's life, has received high marks in evaluations and has the makings of a future supervisor, records show.

        On Friday, Chief Tom Streicher described Officer Haas, who shot and killed Rickey Moore early Friday morning in a confrontation in Millvale, as one of the five best officers on the force.

        “I can't offer a finer example of a police officer,” Chief Streicher said.

Haas

        But in November 1996, Officer Haas was suspended for pulling a knit stocking cap over the face of a suspect and calling him a “nigga.”

        “His action is the cancer which can ruin an organization,” Capt. Kenneth Jones wrote about Officer Haas in a discipline hearing summary. “(This) was an act which cannot be tolerated.”

        Records obtained by the Enquirer show Officer Haas told investigators he “used the term in a friendly manner” and pulled the cap over the suspect's face to calm him.

        “Nigga” is used mostly by young black males as a term of endearment or brotherhood. Though considered taboo by many older African-Americans, the word's usage has become more widespread in recent years because of rap music and pop culture.

        The incident occurred while Officer Haas was processing a prisoner at the Hamilton County Justice Center. It was witnessed by prisoners and other police officers, one of whom reported the slur to police officials.

        “(Officer Haas) claims this is an acceptable term used by persons on the street,” Capt. Jones said in his Nov. 13, 1996, report. “He states that he is trying to be a good community police officer by "acting the role.'”

        But Capt. Jones said the suspect resisted arrest and continued to resist at the justice center.

        “I cannot even remotely believe Officer Haas' intentions were to act "friendly,'” he said. “I believe "nigga' was used in a derogatory way ... and is interchangeable with "nigger.'”

        Officer Haas was suspended for 80 hours. But after the police union appealed, an outside arbitrator reduced the suspension to eight hours and put a notation in the officer's personnel file.

        As part of the union contract with the city, disciplinary actions are removed from personnel files after three years. As a result, the incident was not included in records that police administrators distributed Friday to reporters seeking information about Officer Haas.

        Officer Haas, 33, declined requests for an interview.

        Late Friday, Chief Streicher and Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman issued a joint statement:

        “Although the term "nigga' is used on a daily basis as a widely accepted term of endearment by young black males across the country and is used frequently in rap music, it is still an offensive term to many people be they black or white, even if used in an irreverent manner like Officer Haas did.

        “However, what this 5-year-old incident has to do with an officer being almost shot to death twice in 2 1/4 weeks needs to be considered also.

        “Let us not forget that this is the same officer who was willing to sacrifice his own life — and almost did — for the innocent citizens of two black communities, Over-the-Rhine and Millvale, by actively engaging armed gunmen who were shooting at him.”

Mayor qualifies support
        Mayor Charlie Luken said on a radio program Friday morning that he would “take a thousand Thomas Haases any day.”

        He learned of the racial incidentfrom an Enquirer reporter and qualified his support of Officer Haas.

        “I was unaware of the record,” he said Friday afternoon. “I was only reflecting on what he did in the last two weeks. What he did was brave and restrained. The man's been shot at 28 times in the last two weeks.”

        On July 10, Officer Haas, who regularly works in District 3, exchanged several shots with a robbery suspect in Over-the-Rhine. Neither the officer nor the gunman was wounded.

        A graduate of Sycamore High School, the officer took courses at the University of Cincinnati before enlisting in the Army in 1988.

        After an honorable discharge in 1992, Officer Haas worked as a forklift operator. He joined the police force that year.

        In his last performance review, Officer Haas' supervisor recommended that he study for the sergeants exam.

        “Officer Haas is one of the top 10 officers in the district,” the supervisor wrote in December 2000. “Officer Haas does police work that is second to none.”

A 1999 reprimand
        But Dennis Carberry reported a different story when he was arrested in 1999 for a crime he did not commit.

        Records show that Officer Haas issued a citation to a suspect who misidentified himself as Mr. Carberry, without checking on the identity.

        As a result, the real Mr. Carberry was arrested. To get out of jail, he paid a $96 fine for an open-container violation and $30 to be released.

        But when Mr. Carberry requested reimbursement, discipline records show Officer Haas told him he was out of luck.

        “(Mr. Carberry) explained that he had been wrongly arrested. You agreed that he was not the subject that you had cited,” a supervisor wrote in a reprimand.
        Karen Samples contributed to this report.

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