Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner has voluntarily stepped aside after the B.C. Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner ordered two investigations of him, one for social-media messages the chief sent to the wife of a subordinate officer, and another for allegations of workplace harassment.
A previous investigation of Elsner’s social-media messages, ordered by the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, was inadequate, said police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe, prompting him to order a new one. The police board investigation, conducted from August to November, failed the test of fairness, accountability and transparency under the Police Act, Lowe said.
The investigations of Elsner are needed because of “the importance of the public office of the chief constable, the seriousness of the allegations and the amount of information currently in the public domain initiated by comments made by individuals directly involved in this matter,” Lowe said.
Lowe has asked RCMP Chief Supt. Sean Bourrie to lead the investigations with the help of officers from the Vancouver Police Department. Their work must be finished within six months.
While Elsner is on paid leave, Deputy Police Chief Del Manak will be interim chief.
The second investigation was triggered by complaints from four female Victoria Police Department employees who alleged workplace harassment. The police union forwarded those complaints to Lowe’s office on Dec. 11.
“I suspect that as the investigation unfolds, additional members may come forward with additional allegations,” said police union acting president Glen Shiels, “but I’m not in a position to comment on them at this time.”
Lowe has issued a 12-page order that includes removal of Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins and Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, the police board’s co-chairwomen, as “discipline authority” for the two investigations. The order spells out the allegations of misconduct by the chief and how the co-chairwomen mishandled the police board investigation.
If substantiated, Lowe said the following would constitute “discreditable conduct”:
• That Elsner engaged in conduct with the spouse of a member under his command which constituted a conflict of interest and/or a breach of trust, in circumstances in which he knew, or ought to have known, would likely bring discredit to the Victoria Police Department.
• That Elsner provided misleading information to a member under his command, in circumstances in which he knew, or ought to have known, would likely bring discredit to the Victoria Police Department.
• That Elsner provided misleading information to an investigator in circumstances in which he knew, or ought to have known, would likely bring discredit to the Victoria Police Department.
• That Elsner contacted witnesses during the course of an internal investigation, which he was the subject of, contrary to the direction of the independent investigator and in circumstances which he knew, or ought to have known, would likely bring discredit to the Victoria Police Department.
If the following is substantiated, it would constitute “inappropriate use of department equipment and/or facilities”:
• That Elsner used police equipment and/or facilities of the Victoria Police Department for purposes unrelated to his duties as a member.
Desjardins said the police board supports the commissioner’s overriding concern of maintaining public trust and will meet on Monday to review its actions.
“In no way was this a coverup,” Desjardins said.
Elsner, 52, is Victoria’s third chief in a decade to be investigated.
An investigation of a chief constable is rare in Canada and two investigations doubly so, said Rollie Woods, spokesman for the police complaint commissioner.
Retired judge Carole Baird Ellan, former chief judge of the B.C. provincial court, has been appointed as discipline authority for the investigation into inappropriate direct personal messages exchanged on Twitter between Elsner and a Saanich police officer who is the wife of a police officer under Elsner’s command.
Retired B.C. Supreme Court justice Ian Pitfield has been appointed the discipline authority for the workplace harassment allegations against Elsner.
“A significant number of resources” will be used “to try to get this thing investigated properly in a reasonable amount of time,” Woods said. “I think it reflects the seriousness of it.”
The announcement by the commissioner is intended to maintain public confidence in the civilian oversight of law enforcement through enhanced transparency and accountability, the commissioner’s office said in a statement.
“The whole house of cards has come down,” said Rob Gordon, criminology professor at Simon Fraser University. He called the dual investigations and harsh criticism of the board “unprecedented” in Canada.
