A police officer in Michigan was hired by department after department, leaving a trail of misconduct and scandal in his wake, with no apparent impact on his ability to move to another city and earn the badge there, according to a new investigation by WXYZ.
Over the course of his career spanning four departments, Officer Mark Aldrich "would be accused of dishonesty, road rage, engaging in sex acts with a woman he’d arrested and destroying evidence," Ross Jones reported. "But instead of losing his badge, a 7 Action News investigation reveals that Aldrich kept finding new departments willing to hire him. Along the way, our reporting reveals, some police chiefs may have violated the law designed to keep bad cops off the streets."
The list of accusations against Aldrich is lengthy. In once incident, he allegedly put a confiscated car up on eBay instead of donating it to a needy family as required. In another, he is accused of brandishing his service weapon in a Kroger parking lot during a dispute over a parking space, shouting expletives at a woman, and saying, "Do you want to see my badge?"
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He denies brandishing the gun.
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In perhaps the most outrageous of these incidents, Aldrich "responded to a vehicle crash that involved an exotic dancer, then arrested the woman for OWI and marijuana possession. A week later, while the charges were still pending, he met up with her at the strip club where she worked. Aldrich received lap dances, records show, and oral sex. Aldrich was later accused of harassing the woman, sending texts that 'creeped' her out, according to an investigation by Huron Township. When questioned by police, Aldrich was deemed "dishonest if not outright deceitful."
At various points, Aldrich came "highly recommended" when jumping from jobs he was forced to resign from to other departments. In some cases, he was reported to have resigned in good standing despite incidents, which would prevent his conduct from being reported to the database that is supposed to prevent problem officers from being rehired.
Last year, the Justice Department unveiled a database that is intended to prevent these sorts of issues by making data on police misconduct available to departments across the country. But this still requires compliance on the part of departments themselves.
