{"id":4929,"date":"2025-10-15T19:35:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/?p=4929"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:35:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:35:22","slug":"tonya-mcclary-tackling-police-reform-in-oversight-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/tonya-mcclary-tackling-police-reform-in-oversight-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Tonya McClary: Tackling Police Reform in Oversight Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Adam Stone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"McClary\"<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

As the first permanent executive director of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) is Philadelphia, Tonya McClary is focused on empowering communities through accountability and transparency in law enforcement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This is not her first rodeo. Since graduating from UBalt Law in 1994, she previously served as the first police oversight director in Dallas. She inaugurated a similar role in New Orleans, starting the agency’s Use of Force Division, working with Commissioner Michael Harrison, who later became police commissioner in Baltimore.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This is high-profile, high-stakes work, especially in the era since the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020. <\/span>\u201cMy agency is the one that\u2019s potentially going to get the Philadelphia Police Department on the front page of the paper \u2014 and not in a good way,\u201d McClary says. \u201cSo it\u2019s very tense, and it\u2019s very political.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Driving change<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

Coming out of law school, McClary thought she would be a <\/span>public defender. A city hiring freeze shut down that option, so she took a low-paid fellowship doing human rights work with Amnesty International and never looked back. With a long career in criminal justice and human rights work, \u201cit was just natural to fall into this role of overseeing police departments,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

When New Orleans offered her a job doing just that, she took two weeks to make up her mind. Could civilian oversight really sway police behaviors and keep communities safe? \u201cBut once I really just thought about it and saw the opportunity, it made total sense to me,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In Philadelphia, where she has worked since May 2024, she pursues that opportunity in multiple ways. \u201cWe actually are at the scene of the police shootings. We\u2019re watching the investigation of officer-involved shootings in real time, and we make policy recommendations to the police department when they are involved in shootings,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

People can file complaints of misconduct with her office. \u201cWhen someone files a complaint and Internal Affairs investigates, we get to see the investigation\u00a0 before it\u2019s finalized and make additional recommendations,\u201d she says. Her office does community outreach too, making sure people understand their rights, and advocating on behalf of residents.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

McClary pursues all this with the goal of driving fundamental change in how policing is conducted. \u201cI hope maybe one day I\u2019ll work myself out of a job,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u2018Very political\u2019<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

Police agency oversight is hard work, and relatively short tenures are common. McClary spent about three years in NOLA and four years in Dallas. \u201cThese jobs are very political,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Most cities ramp up oversight after a traumatic event \u2014 think George Floyd or Freddie Gray. Often they do so under federal orders. There\u2019s tension there.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIn most cities, most of the leadership \u2014 the mayor, the city manager, the city council \u2014 are very much behind their police department. People feel like they have to choose: Either I\u2019m going to support the oversight agency or I\u2019m going to support the police,\u201d McClary says. \u201cIf it comes down between you and the police department, they\u2019re going to go with the police department.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

How to stand up for what\u2019s right in that environment? \u201cI just don\u2019t compromise. And in the back of my head, I always know that one day the phone may ring and someone\u2019s going to say: <\/span>Tonya, this is not working for us<\/span><\/i>,\u201d she says. \u201cI come into jobs with that awareness.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

There are legal complexities as well. In Philly, for example, the police union recently blocked her office’s ability to conduct independent investigations, as part of contract negotiations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cEven though that\u2019s a big part of what I\u2019m supposed to do, according to the legislation, we\u2019re not even in the room\u201d for those discussions, she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Pushing the boundaries<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>

Those who know McClary says she\u2019s especially well-suited to thrive in this challenging environment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cTonya\u2019s unafraid, and she\u2019s willing to push beyond boundaries, to challenge the status quo, particularly for what she feels in her heart, and her spirit is right,\u201d says friend and law school classmate <\/span>Stephanie Franklin, J.D. \u201994, president & CEO at The Franklin Law Group, in Owings Mills, and CEO at Powerhouse Master Coaching Inc.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cShe is tough. She is courageous. She\u2019s a strong relationship builder, a strong communicator, and she\u2019s strategic. She\u2019s all of those things, as well as being very personable and caring and compassionate,\u201d<\/span> Franklin says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

On the best days, McClary\u2019s work makes a big difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In Dallas, for example, the George Floyd killing sparked more than 100 days of protest. \u201cThere was an incident where some protestors had gone up on a bridge and ended up being corralled in by the police. They were getting ready to tear gas several hundred people,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

McClary got on the phone with the chief of police, the Dallas city manager and the district attorney\u2019s office, arguing it wouldn\u2019t be a good idea to tear gas hundreds of people trapped on a bridge. \u201cI used my authority and influence to have this whole thing avoided,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Her UBalt Law experiences primed her for success. An internship at the public defender\u2019s office and a civil advocacy clinic gave a real-world taste of social justice work. And key mentors have also played a role, including the artist, singer, and nonprofit leader Niyonu Spann.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cShe has taught me about being really, truly who you are in the work that you are called to do,\u201d McClary says. \u201cShe has encouraged me over the years to really find who is the authentic Tonya.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Adam Stone <\/em><\/strong>is a writer based in Annapolis.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Adam Stone As the first permanent executive director of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) is Philadelphia, Tonya McClary is focused on empowering communities through accountability and transparency in law enforcement. This is not her first rodeo. Since graduating from UBalt Law in 1994, she previously served as the first police oversight director in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3596,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4929"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5292,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions\/5292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}