MANCHESTER, NH – The Board of Mayor and Alderman, after a non-public session Tuesday night, voted to transfer up to $200,000 to the Manchester Police Department (MPD) to cover back pay for fired police officer Aaron Brown, as ordered by an arbitrator.
Brown was fired in April 2018 after an internal investigation uncovered texts which an attorney in an arbitration case concerning Brown said showed the 13-year veteran of the police force is a “proven racist.”
On Wednesday, MPD issued a news release saying the city fought long and hard to prevent Brown’s reinstatement after firing him for misconduct. With no further legal recourse to fight the arbitrator’s ruling, the city decided to pay Brown the back pay.
Brown’s certification was suspended on Oct. 27, 2020, due to noncompliance with maintaining ongoing training requirements, according to New Hampshire State Police Major David Parenteau (Ret.), Legal Bureau, NH Police Standards and Training Council.
Heather Hamel, police department spokesman, said Brown will never work for the department again.
“I am proud to lead the Manchester Police Department and to serve the people of this city,” said Police Chief Allen Aldenberg. “Our department vehemently condemns Mr. Brown’s misconduct, and we move forward with the expectation that all members of this department will meet the highest professional and ethical standards.”
The exact amount Brown is due is being determined but it is not expected to top $200,000, city official said.
According to the city’s 597-page arbitration file, released by the City Solicitor’s Office, Brown used his department-issued cell phone to exchange 18,000 texts with his wife. The arbitration concerned eight charges, six that were redacted from the file released through the City Solicitor’s Office, and two concerning two of those texts.
On May 10, 2017, while on duty, Brown texted his wife that he couldn’t go to a baseball game that night because he was involved in a joint investigation with the FBI and had to go to Dorchester, Mass. He was assigned to the department’s Special Enforcement Unit, which investigates street crime including drugs. When his wife said she was a Nervous Nellie concerning that, he texted, “It’s all good. Besides I got this new fancy gun. Take out parking tickets no problem.” He explained that “parking tickets = black fella.”
On duty again on Aug. 22, 2017, Brown’s wife texted him asking what he was doing. “The usual. Currently putting the stalk on a parking ticket … like the big jungle cat that I am.” When she asks for clarification, Brown said, “Parking ticket = black feller.”
Brown also sent his wife a video of a “crackbunny fight” saying “I am certainly not a racist. I have my proclivities about people…but those folks are straight-up n’s…no two ways about it. Serve no place in life or society. And yet they are completely taking over all parts of daily life.”
When questioned during the internal affairs investigation, Brown said he is not a racist. “I might be prejudiced,” he said. “I like to mock or make fun of like the stereotypical norms for like other races, you know, like African-Americans liking fried chicken.”
The Manchester Police Patrolman’s Association, the union representing Brown, argued in the arbitration that Brown had the highest record of arrests within the department and he “considered himself to be an equal opportunity enforcer of the law,” according to a filing by Attorney John S. Krupski. Several times Brown was named Officer of the Month.
Krupski said the texts were “bravado” and inappropriate statements to allay his wife’s fear of a serious situation.
The arbitration consisted of a one-day hearing on Aug. 21, 2019, with closing briefs later filed by opposing attorneys.
Arbitrator Greg Altman, in his decision, said there was no question the comments were inappropriate and offensive, but he did not believe Brown’s actions were maliciously motivated. He said at issue were two text messages from more than 18,000 between Brown and his wife that were never made public, not uttered by any other person and not posted on social media. He also noted Brown had no prior disciplinary record.
Altman said as a police officer Brown never was accused of making racially insensitive comments to members of the public or other officers in the department.
Still, he said zero tolerance for a racially-insensitive comment is clearly an appropriate response by the MPD.
Altman ordered a 30-day suspension, with no back pay for that time. He said Brown was not entitled to his former position in the Special Enforcement Unit.
The police department, along with Mayor Joyce Craig, balked at Brown rejoining the police department. As a result, the Manchester Police Patrolman’s Association filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employees Labor Relations Board, which is pending.
Former police chief Nick Willard fired Brown while former police chief Carlo Capano refused to reinstate him. They, along with Mayor Joyce Craig, all said Brown should not be a police officer.
