Prior to his police career, Sloly played soccer professionally, and made an appearance for the Canada men's national team in a 1984 friendly against Egypt.

[4][5] Sloly also earned a Criminal Justice Certificate from the University of Virginia, an Incident Command System Certification from the Justice Institute of British Columbia, the Major City Chief's Police Executive Development Program, University of Toronto's Rotman Police Executive Leadership Program and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

[4][5][15] In 2015, he was a candidate to succeed outgoing police chief Bill Blair, but was passed over in favour of Mark Saunders, who was seen as more popular with members of the service.

[18][13] On 10 February 2016 it was announced that Sloly had resigned as deputy chief and that he had approached the Toronto Police Services Board several months prior with a request that he be released from his contract, which was to have ended in December 2017.

In response, Sloly directed every member of the Ottawa police to complete trainings on conscious and unconscious bias, anti-Black racism and racial profiling.

[22] In 2022, the OPS and Sloly faced criticism for their handling of the Canada convoy protest, where thousands of protestors occupied much of downtown Ottawa, resulting in the desecration of monuments,[23][24] street and business closures,[25] as well as intimidation and harassment of residents.

[29][30] Sloly has been described as a scapegoat for the situation, by Ottawa Councillor Catherine McKenney, noting various key city staff that did not offer support during the occupation.