Glendale Police Commander Jay O’Neill under criminal investigation, no longer with city

A longtime leader within the Glendale Police Department is no longer with the city’s police department and is currently under criminal investigation by an outside agency, officials confirmed.

Commander Jay O’Neill’s employment ended, though authorities did not disclose the circumstances surrounding his departure or specify when his employment officially ended.

Glendale police confirmed O’Neill is the subject of an active criminal investigation being conducted by a separate law enforcement agency.

Department officials declined to name the investigating agency or detail the nature of the allegations.

“As this is an active investigation being handled by another agency, the City and Glendale Police Department will have no further comment at this time,” the department said in a statement.

ABC15 is reporting that an indictment for second-degree exploitation of a minor was issued in North Carolina for a defendant whose name and birth date match O’Neill’s. The charge involves photos depicting a 15-year-old minor engaged in sexual activity, the TV station said.

O’Neill joined the Glendale Police Department in 2005. Prior to his tenure in Arizona, he spent more than seven years as a police officer and a year and a half as a dispatcher in California.

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