Calgary police officer with history of harassing romantic rivals sees charges dropped

A Calgary police officer with a history of harassing women she perceives as romantic rivals sawher criminal charges withdrawn Tuesday.

Const. Jacki MacNeil was facing a charge of criminal harassment after she was accused of driving by a woman's home and taking photos.

Appearing in Strathmore court on Tuesday, prosecutor Kaitlyn Perrin told a provincial court judge she was applying to withdraw MacNeil's charges.

The Crown reviewed this fileand has determined there was"no reasonable likelihood of conviction," said Perrin.

• Calgary police officer accused of harassing another woman who dated her ex-boyfriend

CPS confirmed MacNeil iscurrentlyrelieved from duty with pay.

She will still face a disciplinary hearing under the Police Act in connection with the allegations.

Defence lawyer Jim Lutz called the move "a step in the right direction" to get MacNeil returned to work.

"I think the Crown really dug into this file and, as unpopular as it may be with the public, they came to the conclusion that there's no reasonable chance of conviction," said Lutz.

'Toxic' relationship

MacNeil has a history of troubling behaviour toward women who went on dates with her on-again, off-again spouse, who is also a Calgary police officer.

Lutz previously described MacNeil's relationship with her former spouse as "toxic."

In July, MacNeil was granted a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to unwanted communication. A charge of criminal harassment was withdrawn but the facts she admitted to included "harassing" behaviour.

A conditional discharge means there is a finding of guilt but if MacNeil abides by court-ordered conditions that she stay away from her victim and attend counselling for 12 months, a conviction will not be registered.

History of 'similar behaviour'

In that case, the harassment took place over a seven-month span in 2018 with the most intense period between April 29 and May 4 when 132 emails and Facebook messages were sent to the victim from MacNeil.

MacNeil called the woman a "home wrecking whore" and threatened to ruin her professionally.

In 2020, the officer, who has been with CPS for 16 years, was disciplined under the Police Act for similar behaviour against other women.

Internal database searches

MacNeil pleaded guilty to charges of discreditable conduct and insubordination, admitting she harassed a woman over text messages, followed her and set up a fake dating account to lure her to a meeting spot.

In addition to the harassment, MacNeil also admitted to searching the woman's personal information on internal CPS databases 13 times.

The presiding officer who accepted MacNeil's guilty pleas handed her a one-year demotion and one-week suspension without pay.

He wrote that MacNeil had a history of "similar behaviour" and that she had been warned in the past about the inappropriateness of her actions.

The related behaviour, wrote the presiding officer, was "addressed at the supervisory level" in past instances.