Gerry McNeilly

Gerry McNeilly (born 1950s) is a lawyer who was the Ontario's Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) from its creation in 2008 (opened 19 October 2009) to 1 April 2019 when the position was filled in an interim capacity by the previous deputy director Sylvana Capogreco. The OIPRD is a civilian body operating under Attorney General of Ontario with powers invested through Public Inquiries Act to investigate complaints about municipal police forces and the Ontario Provincial Police.[1]

Gerry McNeilly
EducationYork University Bachelor of Arts
Queen's University Bachelor of Law
Alma materYork University Bachelor of Arts
OccupationOffice of the Independent Police Review Director
Years active2008–2019

Education

McNeilly graduated from York University (Bachelor of Arts) and Queen's University (Bachelor of Laws).

Career

Prior to his current position, McNeilly served in legal roles in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. He was Executive Director of Legal Aid Manitoba 1999–2008, Chair of the Board of Inquiry for the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal 1995–1999, Justice of the Peace (Ontario), and Deputy Provincial Judge (Ontario).[1] On 4 September 2019, he was appointed as one of the foreign experts to Hong Kong's Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) to help ensure the IPCC's probe into allegations of police brutality during recent unrest in Hong Kong was credible and free of bias.[2] On 11 December 2019, he and other foreign experts resigned because "a crucial shortfall was evident in the powers, capacity and independent investigative capability of IPCC."[3]

Office of the Independent Police Review Director

McNeilly's role as Director of OIPRD began in 2008.[1][4] The National Post described the OIPRD as an "arm's-length civilian agency" operated under the Attorney General of Ontario.[4] As Office Director, McNeilly can order police investigations, searches, seizures, and can "subpoena documents and witnesses, including chiefs of police" under the Public Inquiries Act.[4]

He can recommend, but not order disciplinary action against officers or that police procedure be changed. Prior to the creation of the Office, complaints about police were "handled internally" by police departments.[4]

In its first six months the OIPRD handled 2,400 complaints.[4]

One of his largest and highest-profile investigations was the review of police conduct during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit in response to 300 complaints.[4]

McNeilly was the lead author on the OIPRD's 208-page report entitled "Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service" which was released in December 2018. The report concluded that TBPS needed to "improve its relationship with Indigenous communities" and that it needs to "ensure that its investigations are timely, effective and non-discriminatory.[5]: 195 

Controversy

The position of the OIRPD director was assumed by the prior deputy director Sylvana Capogreco in an interim capacity effective 1 April 2019. The decision to end his directorship before finding a permanent replacement raises questions as to its relation to the Divisional Court finding that he changed the decision of a complaint against Toronto Police Service (TPS) Constable Chris Howes from substantiated to unsubstantiated after he had communications with the TPS outside of the complaint process."[6]

References
  1. "Gerry McNeilly Nominated As Director Of New Police Review System". news.ontario.ca. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  2. "IPCC announces membership of International Expert Panel" (PDF). Independent Police Complaints Council (Hong Kong). Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. Kuo, Lily (11 December 2019). "Foreign experts quit Hong Kong police brutality inquiry over lack of powers". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  4. Wallace, Kenyon (24 July 2010). "Police complaint director thrust into limelight". National Post. Retrieved 30 December 2018. As the province's newly minted Independent Police Review Director, Mr. McNeilly is tasked with handling all public complaints against police in Ontario
  5. McNeilly, Gerry (December 2018). Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service (PDF) (Report). Toronto, Ontario: Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD). p. 208. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  6. Perkel, Colin (9 January 2019). "Watchdog rapped after secret chats with Toronto cops led to nixed misconduct findings". Toronto Star. Retrieved 10 September 2019. Back-channel chats that led Ontario's police watchdog to set aside its own finding of misconduct against an officer were inappropriate and undermined the integrity of the process, an appeal court has ruled
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