Police officer fired by NC town amid SBI investigation still wears a badge
A police officer who was fired by the Warrenton Police Department amid an SBI investigation into allegations that he used excessive force, continues to work for another department 20 miles east.
In an interview, Littleton Police Chief Phillip Trivette said he has no concerns nor has he had any complaints about Officer Mark Oakley policing the town with a population of about 560.
“Not one complaint about anything since he worked here, not use of force, not anything,” Trivette said
Officers are like everybody else: innocent until proven guilty, Trivette said.
On Feb. 12, 2024, District Attorney Mike Waters asked a judge to order the city of Warrenton to preserve all reports, computer files and audio and digital recordings going back two years related to Oakley amid an ongoing criminal investigation, according to Waters’ court filing.
The filing follows Waters asking the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation in January to investigate complaints of improper uses of force by Oakley, the court filing states.
SBI Special Agent C.R. Cloutier obtained videos of three different incidents “that give rise to probable cause” that Okaley used his taser on unarmed people who weren’t resisting arrest, the filing states.
Dwayne Hicks, who is one of the people in those videos, has asked a judge to release body-camera footage of his Sept. 20, 2023 interaction with Oakley. His attorney says that 14 others have come forward with complaints about Oakley.
John Miles, a Henderson pastor who is part of a group of concerned citizens who investigate, and in some cases advocate, for residents concerned about police, including those who interacted with Oakley.
Considering the current evidence, Miles doesn’t think Oakley should be able to carry a badge and a gun. It not only puts residents in danger, he contends, but it hurts police as well.
“You have some great officers that put their life on the line every day. But one bad officer put a bad taste in citizen’s mouths throughout the world,” Miles said.
About Mark Oakley
Oakley, 30, worked for Warrenton, a town with a population of about 850, from January 2018 to March 25, when police fired him following an internal investigation.
“We have concluded your actions constitute serious detrimental personal conduct,” Town Administrator Robert Davie wrote in Oakley’s dismissal letter.
Oakley has been in law enforcement for more than 15 years, working for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile. Oakley “voluntarily resigned” from Roanoke Rapids on April 1, 2015, according to documents provided by Roanoke Rapids.
Oakley also started working for LIttleton in February 2015, which continued through February 2, 2017, according to information provided by Trivette.
Two months after Oakley started working for Warrenton, in May 2018, he started working part-time for Littleton, making $15 an hour. Part-time officers received a $5 raise on April 8, bumping his pay up to $20 an hour, according to information provided by Trivette.
Trivette said that he doesn’t have any concerns about Oakley working for the town or any of his past or future arrests being questioned due the SBI investigation and what it might find.
“I have no reason to be concerned,” Trivette wrote in an email.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
