Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Suspended Victoria police chief wants to resign

Suspended Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner says he wants to resign so that he can take care of his health and try to move on with his life.
VKA downtown 0491.jpg
Suspended Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner in a file photo from January 2015.

Suspended Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner says he wants to resign so that he can take care of his health and try to move on with his life.

“I have experienced a great deal of stress and anxiety as a result of the various investigations, which has worsened as they have dragged out,” Elsner said in an affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

“I am under the care of a doctor, who I meet with once every few weeks. I have had to start taking an anti-depressant and my doctor is highly concerned about my blood pressure.”

In the document, Elsner said he was “shocked” at being suspended and devastated at the impact of a probe into allegations that he sent inappropriate Twitter messages to the wife of a subordinate officer and harassed female employees.

He said he is “deeply troubled” by delays in completing an external probe launched by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.

Elsner, who was suspended after the allegations surfaced in 2015, said he is not free to simply leave as chief constable. “I am not a unionized employee and for reasons outside of my control, I am unable to negotiate the terms of my exit until these matters are resolved,” he said in the court document. “As a result, I am forced to wait for the conclusion of what seems like a never-ending investigation before I can resign.”

Elsner, who is awaiting a court decision in a similar application filed last year, complained about a fourth extension granted an investigator in January. “What is particularly troubling about the delay is the fact that the investigation is only the first stage in the discipline process,” he said. “Once the investigation report has been submitted, the discipline authority will have to review the report and decide whether to substantiate the allegations.”

A series of statements by the police complaint commissioner and the resulting publicity has had a “devastating” impact on his family, Elsner said. “Out of respect for the process, I have not commented on the allegations since the external investigations were commenced. However, I find it extremely frustrating that I cannot defend myself in the face of these media reports. Even if the allegations are not substantiated, my reputation has been irreparably tarnished and I will never be able to return to work.”

The chief, who was appointed to what he called his “dream job” in December 2013, said he was “outraged” that investigators failed to secure his notebooks, which he said contain “highly sensitive” information that could be damaging to the organization and people’s careers.

He said he believed his email account had been tampered with and questioned a decision by the investigation to order him not to have any contact with other members of the Victoria police, resulting in his becoming “increasingly isolated” from his support network.

In January, he was unable to watch his daughter participate in the Victoria city basketball finals because a police athletic fund sponsors the tournament every year and both on-duty and off-duty members of the department are encouraged to attend. In previous years, he had given the trophy to the winner, but felt that with the no-contact order he could not attend.

“I was greatly disappointed that I could not attend her games.”

Elsner had initially faced an internal probe into messages he sent using Twitter. He said he had concerns about that probe, but accepted the findings as well as a discipline letter placed on his file. However, he questioned the need for the subsequent external investigation and was “shocked” when he was suspended.

His petition in B.C. Supreme Court seeks a number of orders, including that the external investigation be stayed. A decision by B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson with respect to a previous court action, a judicial review of the decision to launch an external investigation, has not been released.

Rollie Woods, the deputy police complaint commissioner, said that until his office receives contrary direction from the court, the matter will proceed.

“The investigation by the police was completed on Friday. So the final investigation report was forwarded to the two retired judges, who were going to review the final investigation reports and make their own decision based on the evidence — whether there’s sufficient evidence for anything to go forward to a disciplinary proceeding,” Woods said. “They’ve got 10 business days to make that decision. So we’re just continuing on with the process, and if we receive some direction from the court to suspend the process, certainly we’ll follow the directions of the court.

“But at this time, the merits of the petition have not been argued, so we’re just going to continue on.”