Chief Aden is the former Chief of Police of the Greenville Police Department in Greenville, North Carolina. Until late 2015, he was the Director of the Research and Programs Directorate of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), where he directly oversaw the day-to-day management of operational programs and research projects aimed at advancing professional police services.

 Chief Aden served 26 years at the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief prior to his retirement and appointment in Greenville. Aden currently serves as the deputy monitor in the federal consent decree in Baltimore, the associate monitor in the Chicago state consent decree and the Independent Police Monitor for the Santa Barbara (CA) Police Department. He previously served as the monitor in the Cleveland federal consent decree and deputy monitor in the Seattle federal consent decree.

Aden is a former commissioner of the governing board of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and has served as a Senior Executive Fellow at the National Policing Institute (formerly The National Police Foundation). Aden is an active member of the Council on Criminal Justice. Among other academic credentials, he holds a Masters of Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC.