Police association slams Police Act investigation into ex-deputy police chief

The association representing municipal police officers is criticizing the way the New Brunswick Police Commission handled a Police Act investigation into former Saint John deputy police chief Glen McCloskey.

The New Brunswick Police Association spent an hour on Thursday criticizing the independent police watchdog and its executive director, Steve Roberge.

The association is calling for Roberge's removal, calling him "anti-police officer."

"The issue here, it's the mentality of this person who has an abusive, authoritarian way of trying to operate up there," New Brunswick Police Association executive director Bob Davidson said.

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 "That's the bottom line. McCloskey is a casualty of this mentality."

Roberge could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday afternoon to respond to the association's comments.

The commission's appointed investigator, Barry MacKnight, found that McCloskey made false statements at the first Dennis Oland murder trial and to Halifax police officers, who ultimately cleared McCloskey of criminal wrongdoing.

McCloskey, who retired in April, had no active role in the investigation into the 2011 death of Richard Oland.

Despite this, he walked around the crime scene two times before forensic testing was complete and then encouraged another officer not to tell the court about it, according to a summary of MacKnight's report.

McCloskey denies allegations

At the first Dennis Oland murder trial, now-retired Staff Sgt. Mike King testified that in 2014, either before or during the preliminary inquiry, McCloskey told him he didn't "have to" tell anyone he'd entered the crime scene. McCloskey was an inspector at the time and King's supervisor.

King testified he replied to McCloskey that he had "never lied on the stand in 32 years" and he "wasn't about to start."

Asked on Thursday whether he asked King to lie, McCloskey said it was "a silly question."

"I've already said on the stand that I never spoke to anybody about lying, changing their testimony, whatever it was," McCloskey said.

"Especially, Mike King has never made the statement I asked him to lie. That's come from the media. He's made the statement I said something to the effect of 'Don't say I was there.'"

McCloskey said it would have been "illogical" for him to say even that to King because Crown prosecutors and former Saint John police chief Bill Reid knew he was in the crime scene.

Breached privacy

McCloskey suggested the police commission reached a conclusion before the investigation was complete and he alleged MacKnight's report left out part of the interviews with officers.

"I talked to the former chief of police Bill Reid, and Bill Reid made some comments to me with respect to what he said," McCloskey said.

"That's not in the interview because it's detrimental to what he wants to happen."

The association also gave reporters a copy of a Dec. 13 report from Integrity Commissioner Alexandre Deschênes, which says the New Brunswick Police Commission "breached [McCloskey's] privacy on two instances by disclosing his personal information to the Crown Prosecutors and the Defence Team on July 4 and 12, 2017."

The personal information was contained in the New Brunswick Police Commission file in relation to the Police Act complaint against McCloskey, according to Deschênes's report. McCloskey filed a complaint, which prompted Deschênes's investigation.

"As with any case of a violation of privacy, we, unfortunately, cannot turn back the clock to prevent the breach from occurring," Deschênes wrote in his decision.

He did not make any recommendations arising out of his findings.

A jury found Dennis Oland guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his father in December 2015, but the New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned his conviction in October 2016 and ordered a new trial, citing an error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury.

The retrial, which began on Nov. 21, is adjourned for the holidays until Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m.