Joaquin “Jack” Chiong Uy passed away in Gilbert, Arizona on Monday, September 23.  He was 73.

He was born in Cadiz, Philippines to the late Francisco and Socorro Uy on May 2, 1940.

Jack graduated from Cadiz High School in 1959 and received a BS in Criminology from the Mapua Institute of Technology in 1964. He married Teresita Uy in 1975, and they lived together in Manila, Philippines before immigrating to Cleveland, Ohio in 1977. 

Jack served the City of Cleveland in various Public Safety capacities during his long and productive career. Jack joined the City of Cleveland in November of 1983 as a civilian investigator for the Department of Public Safety, Investigative Standards Section. As one of the first Asian Americans in this role as principal investigator, he reviewed citizen complaints alleging police misconduct. There was a heightened level of attention focused on police conduct at this time, and this unit provided the first impartial, external review of Cleveland Police Officer conduct. In this capacity, he reviewed hundreds of incidents and made final case disposition recommendations to the Administrator of the Unit.

In 1988, the City of Cleveland passed a City Charter Amendment creating Cleveland’s first Civilian Police Review Board. Jack’s background in law enforcement and expertise in conducting investigations regarding police conduct resulted in his appointment as a civilian investigator in the newly created Office of Professional Standards, the investigative arm of the Civilian Police Review Board. In this capacity he reviewed literally thousands of allegations of police misconduct over the years and shared his findings and conclusions with members of the Police Review Board. Jack’s peers regarded him as a thorough, resourceful and highly professional employee who conducted himself with integrity and compassion. According to his former supervisor Fred Szabo, Jack “possessed strong interpersonal and communication skills, which enabled him to highly effective in this difficult role.”

In later years, the civilian investigators in the Office of Professional Standards were replaced with police investigators and Jack was reassigned to the Safety Director’s staff where he performed a variety of administrative duties, including managing police commissions for all law enforcement entities within the City of Cleveland.  Jack retired from public service in January of 2008 after 25 years of exemplary service. Throughout his career, he maintained his professional focus and accomplished all tasks assigned to him with dignity.

Jack lived his retirement years in San Tan Valley, Arizona where he was able to devote a great deal of energy and passion into his favorite hobbies: mahjongg, Texas hold ‘em and handguns.    He is survived by his wife Teresita and his son Joaquin Uy, Jr. and his daughter Antoinette Uy, both of Seattle, Washington.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made online here: http://www.gofundme.com/4ilr94.

Special thanks to Fred Szabo for help in writing this article.