Former Victoria police chief Paul Battershill admitted to RCMP officers last winter that he had a "personal relationship" with a "service provider who had been retained by the Victoria Police Department," B.C. Police Complaints Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld revealed yesterday.
In a 12-page summary of the case, Mr. Ryneveld said the RCMP investigation determined that Mr. Battershill's employer-employee relationship amounted to "discreditable conduct" under B.C.'s Police Act.
The issue was not whether Mr. Battershill had a relationship while on duty, but whether that relationship "could discredit the department by giving rise to an appearance of favouritism," Mr. Ryneveld said, quoting from the RCMP investigation report.
The RCMP also considered whether Mr. Battershill's relationship "adversely affected his ability to select, assess, scrutinize and give instructions ... in the best interests of the Victoria Police Department," he noted.
Mr. Battershill was suspended last October after a group of senior officers brought their concerns about the relationship, along with a host of other allegations, to Mr. Ryneveld and Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe.
The resulting RCMP probe, completed in April, found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing or financial impropriety.
It did, however, determine there were sufficient grounds for a Police Act disciplinary hearing.
Mr. Battershill resigned last month, less than a week before that meeting was to take place. Penalties for discreditable conduct range from a reprimand to a short suspension, the report said.
Mr. Ryneveld declined to elaborate on the nature of Mr. Battershill's personal relationship or identify the service provider mentioned in the police report.
"I've really taken a lot of care in considering what I really truly can say, and that's pretty much what's in the report," he said.
Immediately after Mr. Battershill's resignation, the Law Society of B.C. launched a conflict-of-interest probe into the conduct of Marli Rusen, a local lawyer who handled the bulk of the Victoria Police Department's labour and employment files during Mr. Battershill's tenure.
Mr. Lowe, who served as disciplinary authority for the case, declined to comment on the report but acknowledged that Mr. Ryneveld's summary provides an accurate depiction of events as he understands them.
While most Police Act investigations are triggered by formal complaints, in this case Mr. Ryneveld said he and Mr. Lowe determined a police investigation was in order based on informal discussions with officers and senior staff.
"After Mayor Lowe placed the chief on leave, I had individuals coming to me over a two-week period," he said. "I had to decide whether this was in the public best interest."
Mr. Lowe praised the officers who stepped forward to voice their concerns.
"Those individuals came to us because they felt it was important for the department, they felt they had an obligation, and I actually have to respect them for that," he said.
However, Mr. Ryneveld's report stressed that "private agendas," "opposing camps" and "political motives" played a role in Mr. Battershill's demise.
Other allegations against the former police chief involved "matters of integrity and oppressive conduct that, if proved, would likely discredit the reputation of the VicPD," he said.
However, since none of those charges were proven during the RCMP investigation, Mr. Ryneveld declined to provide specifics.
Mr. Ryneveld, who has been under pressure in recent weeks to call a public inquiry, said there's no longer a compelling public interest in spending more time and resources on the case.
RCMP investigators spent close to 1,900 hours interviewing 37 individuals, while seven support staff invested about 1,300 hours helping those investigators examine and catalogue nearly 900 documents, Mr. Ryneveld noted.
"I've had a thorough and comprehensive report and I feel fully comfortable in making my decision," he said.