The province has named the independent consultant who will review the New Brunswick Police Commission.
Alphonse MacNeil is a retired assistant RCMP commissioner who also led a review of the 2014 shooting in Moncton.
“I am pleased to have Mr. MacNeil committed to conducting this review,” said Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Carl Urquhart in a statement on Monday. “We look forward to receiving his report this summer.”
In January, the commission’s board of directors asked the province to appoint an independent third-party to review allegations made by New Brunswick Police Association.
Association Allegations
The association criticized the way the commission and its former executive director, Steve Roberge, investigated now-retired Saint John deputy police chief Glen McCloskey.
McCloskey was accused of asking an officer to lie about him being at Richard Oland’s Saint John murder scene in 2011.
In December 2016, the commission’s appointed investigator, Barry MacKnight, concluded the misconduct allegations against McCloskey were founded, but Halifax Regional Police eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing.
The association accused Roberge of inserting himself into the commission’s review and of violating McCloskey’s privacy by giving the commission’s entire file to Dennis Oland’s defence lawyers. They also accused MacKnight of leading a biased investigation into McCloskey.
Judicial Review
McCloskey filed for a judicial review of the commission’s investigation against him in March.
Documents filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench allege the commission’s investigation was done in “bad faith” and McCloskey was “denied natural justice due to a lack of procedural fairness.”
McCloskey, who retired as deputy chief in April 2018, said he would have continued to work with the force if it were not for the “stress and anguish placed upon” him by the commission.
