Victoria police chief Frank Elsner was found to have sent inappropriate online messages to another officer’s wife.Victoria Police Department
Victoria's chief of police has been suspended, with the announcement coming the same day B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner revealed it had ordered its third investigation into his conduct.
The suspension is the latest development in a scandal that began in December when Chief Frank Elsner publicly apologized for sending inappropriate online messages to another officer's wife. The content of the messages has not been revealed.
The Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board announced late on Friday afternoon that retired B.C. Supreme Court justice Ian Pitfield had ordered Chief Elsner suspended effective immediately. He had been on paid leave. Mr. Pitfield is serving as the discipline authority for two of the investigations ordered by the police complaint commissioner, including the investigation announced on Friday.
Janet Winteringham, Chief Elsner's lawyer, said in an e-mail that "he will respond when it is appropriate to do so and not while the investigation is outstanding."
The police board wrote in a statement that it will convene next week "to discuss the implications of the order for suspension."
The police board's statement was released hours after the police complaint commissioner announced the latest investigation into the chief's conduct.
Stan Lowe, the commissioner, said the third police investigation will look at whether Chief Elsner tried to influence investigations into his conduct by attempting to procure a false statement from a potential witness. He said the investigation will also examine whether Chief Elsner tried to delete e-mails from a department archive.
Mr. Lowe said in a statement that his office was informed of new allegations against Chief Elsner last week. He said the allegations arose as members of the RCMP and Vancouver Police Department worked on two investigations into Chief Elsner's conduct that the commissioner ordered four months ago.
If the allegation the chief may have attempted to procure a false witness statement is substantiated, the commissioner said it could amount to deceit under the B.C. Police Act.
Mr. Lowe said Chief Elsner may also have breached the Police Act through discreditable conduct. He said the chief may have deleted or attempted to delete e-mails from the department server, and may have "made a request to a potential witness to destroy electronic data related to an ongoing external investigation."
The new investigation must be completed within six months. The allegations have not been proven.
The chief last month filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court requesting that the first investigation ordered by Mr. Lowe – which focuses on Chief Elsner's Twitter messages and conduct during an internal investigation – be quashed. The petition argued the commissioner does not have the authority to order an external investigation for conduct that has already been investigated internally.
The second investigation ordered by Mr. Lowe focuses on allegations of workplace harassment and is not part of Chief Elsner's petition.
The chief, in an affidavit alongside his petition, said: "I strongly believe my reputation has been irreparably tarnished and my career in policing is over, regardless of the outcome of the investigation."
Barbara Desjardins, the mayor of Esquimalt and the police board's lead co-chair, and Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps have been criticized for initially telling reporters the chief was not being investigated internally. The investigation had actually just wrapped up. Critics have said the board's response was misleading, but Ms. Helps, the board's deputy co-chair, has said it was limited in what it could say about a personnel issue.
Less than a week after the allegations involving Chief Elsner's Twitter messages surfaced publicly, the Victoria City Police Union declared it had no confidence in his leadership. The chief initially refused to leave his post. He agreed to step aside temporarily a week later, as Mr. Lowe announced he had ordered the two investigations.
Rollie Woods, the deputy police complaint commissioner, in an interview said it was too early to say if the investigations into Chief Elsner's conduct could lead to criminal charges.
Mr. Woods said it is up to the police board to decide whether the suspension is paid or unpaid.