The police complaint commissioner has ordered investigations into allegations concerning Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner. In the interests of the public, the police department and Elsner himself, this issue needs to be resolved quickly and thoroughly.
When a similar controversy arose in 2007, it dragged on for more than a year, damaging police department morale and eroding public confidence in the Victoria police board. Every effort should be made to prevent a repeat performance.
Commissioner Stan Lowe reviewed an internal investigation of the chief led by the Victoria and Esquimalt police board over the past several months. He determined it failed the test of fairness, accountability and transparency under the Police Act. He has ordered a new investigation into allegations that Elsner exchanged improper social-media messages with a Saanich police officer who is the wife of a Victoria constable.
Lowe has also ordered an investigation into allegations of workplace harassment submitted by the police union on behalf of four female police-department employees.
Elsner has voluntarily gone on paid leave while the investigations are conducted.
On Dec. 4, Mayor Lisa Helps and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, who co-chair the police board, told the board of a disciplinary decision following an internal investigation into Elsner鈥檚 conduct. The board expressed its confidence in Elsner. The two mayors decided not to make the matter public, on the grounds that it was a confidential personnel matter.
Hours later, when asked by reporters if the police chief was being investigated, Desjardins said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no investigation at this time鈥� and 鈥渢here are/were no formal complaints put forward.鈥�
When asked if there was any truth to the rumour that Elsner was under investigation, Helps said: 鈥淣o. The board has full confidence in our chief. He鈥檚 the best thing that鈥檚 happened to this town and Esquimalt in a long time.鈥�
In his order, Lowe laid out how the police board botched the investigation and removed Helps and Desjardins as the disciplinary authority in the case. They have been replaced by two retired judges.
The two mayors, it seems, were victims of inexperience and bad advice, or at least, insufficient advice. Hindsight says they should have consulted more closely with the office of the police complaint commissioner, especially in an issue that turns out to be a public-trust matter, not just a personnel matter.
Let鈥檚 leave the allegations against Elsner to the investigations. Like any other person, he is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. This is about the process, and that needs to be improved. Victoria can鈥檛 afford another drawn-out police-chief scandal.
In August 2008, then-chief Paul Battershill resigned after being suspended with pay for 11 months while the RCMP investigated.
During that time, the public was told very little, as police board chairman and then-mayor Alan Lowe insisted the case was a confidential personnel matter. The explanation left taxpayers, the police department and Battershill in limbo. It eroded police morale and public confidence in the process.
Battershill resigned before a disciplinary hearing could be held. It was learned shortly thereafter that Battershill had had an affair with Marli Rusen, a lawyer under contract to provide legal advice to the chief and to the board on labour issues.
Accusations, once levied, can ruin careers, regardless of whether they are proven. Elsner was brought in to make positive changes. If his job is in limbo, so are the improvements he is supposed to be leading.
The commissioner has said the investigations must be completed within six months. Let鈥檚 hope they don鈥檛 take that long, or once again, taxpayers and a police chief will be left twisting in the wind.
