Manchester To Pay Fired Cop Aaron Brown Up To $200K

MANCHESTER, NH - The City of Manchester announced Wednesday that "the city fought long and hard" to prevent former police officer Aaron Brown’s reinstatement to duty after firing him due to misconduct.

Unfortunately, the city has no further legal recourse to fight the arbitrator’s binding decision awarding back pay to Brown. The city must therefore comply with decision, and pay the funds"

MPD Spokesperson Heather Hamel said in a press release that Brown was fired in 2018 after racist text messages were found on his department-issued cell phone during an internal investigation and said Brown grieved his firing.

Although the arbitrator who heard the case found Brown’s comments to be egregious, he ruled that Brown should only have been suspended and not fired and ordered the City to reinstate Brown as a police officer and to pay him significant back pay, Hamel said.

The statement issued by Manchester Police did not give an exact amount of the payment, $200K was approved by the Board of Mayor and Alderman in a closed session portion of the meeting. It is expected to include back pay and legal fees for Brown.

Brown was a police officer for Manchester Police for 13 years until he was fired in 2018. He was fired for sending racial texts to his wife on a department issued cell phone. It is unclear and not specified in the press release if Aaron Brown will be rehired by Manchester Police.

MPD Chief Allen Aldenberg stated: “I am proud to lead the Manchester Police Department and to serve the people of this city. 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.”

Patch will update this article as additional information becomes available.