Front-line Victoria police officers are “very disappointed” in their chief, says a union spokesman, and they could meet as early as today to discuss whether they have confidence in his leadership, after he admitted to exchanging inappropriate messages with the wife of a subordinate officer.
Asked if there could be a non-confidence motion, Victoria police union spokesman Sean Plater said “it’s a possibility.”
“We were shocked and members are very disappointed,” Plater said. “We are going to have to gauge how our members feel about this … and proceed from there.”
Chief Frank Elsner was the subject of a Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board investigation after he exchanged direct messages on his personal Twitter account with a female Saanich police officer who is married to a Victoria constable.
Plater said because it was an internal discipline matter involving the chief and not the subordinate officer, he only learned of the investigation last week.
“Since we found out about the investigation, we have been supporting our member,” Plater said. “He’s managing as best as he can. You can imagine, it’s difficult ... We would have liked to have been supporting him throughout.”
After a concern about the messages was raised in late August, an independent Vancouver lawyer investigated, concluding weeks ago that there was no inappropriate relationship but inappropriate messages were exchanged.
On Friday, police board co-chairs Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins and Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps informed fellow board members, who expressed continued confidence in Elsner.
Elsner said Sunday he is “humiliated” beyond words, saying he assured his subordinate there had not been an affair, just inappropriate exchanges via social media.
“This was about a stupid man allowing his ego to get the best of him for a brief [period],” said Elsner, who declined to say whether images were involved.
The investigation report has not been shared with the union, leaving concerns about the scope of the review, said Plater.
“Members are disappointed there wasn’t better decision making,” Plater said. “Members are held to a high standard and expect the chief to be held to the same standard.”
An email sent by the chief to staff Sunday will not be enough to address discontent amongst the ranks, Plater said.
In that email, the chief wrote: “I am better than that and I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been affected by my lapse in judgment. . . . After reviewing the entire report and knowing all the facts, the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board has given me their full support and confidence to continue as your Chief Constable.
“Our collective concern must now be on healing and moving forward together as a department.”
But on Monday, there were signs that might not be happening.
Dermod Travis, executive director of Integrity B.C., said the chief must go beyond his apology and have face-to-face dialogue with his senior officers, then his constables, to hear their views.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s not really the police board’s call,” Travis said. “It’s not really the chief’s call. It’s going to be the people on the front line — it’s their call.
“And if he does not have their total confidence, it’s going to be problematic for the police force going forward.”
Former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed said as an experienced chief, Elsner should have known his behaviour was “absolutely unacceptable.”
Elsner, 52, came to lead Victoria’s police department about two years ago after serving as chief of the Greater Sudbury Police Department, as well as with the RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police. He first joined the RCMP in 1982.
Heed said he can’t recall a police chief who has survived this kind of scandal.
“He is the disciplinary authority for all of those officers out there, so all the officers now have to look to their leader and say, ‘Has he committed a disciplinary fault they cannot forgive him for?’ ” Heed said.
By exercising “such poor judgment,” Elsner loses credibility within the organization and with the public, Heed said. “It could be very hard to overcome.”
The investigation report is being reviewed by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
Commissioner Stan Lowe, the civilian watchdog who oversees police conduct, has the power to order his own investigation if he identifies issues that are matters of public trust. He said Monday he will report publicly on what he decides.
The commissioner is waiting for more “materials from the investigation and disciplinary process in order that he may complete a comprehensive and measured review of this matter,” his office said in a statement.
Heed said police union members could hold a non-confidence vote — those in the union include those at the rank of staff sergeant and below — but it might not be upheld by the board.
More interesting, he said, is what the police complaint commissioner does. If it’s decided the matter is one of public trust — rather than internal discipline — another police department will have to be called in to investigate. The board would remain the discipline authority.
For his part, Heed said the case appears to be one of public trust. The three people involved are public servants, one a subordinate of the chief, he said.
“I think there is an element of public trust in this particular investigation and that’s why I have said the organization, the board has to be a lot more transparent on what actually has occurred here and how have they have dealt with it,” said Heed.
Plater said he is waiting to hear the results of the police complaint commissioner review.
“We trust the OPCC will ensure a thorough investigation was completed,” Plater said. “At this time there is limited information.”
Several high-profile, embarrassing incidents involving police chiefs have rocked the Victoria Police Department.
• In February 2011, Jamie Graham was found guilty of discredible conduct after revealing in November 2009 that an undercover officer was the driver of a bus filled with people heading to a protest against the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The following year, Graham was found in neglect of duty after leaving his loaded service pistol holstered under the driver’s seat of his unmarked vehicle in the Victoria department’s parkade, contrary to department policy.
Graham, who had previously served as Vancouver’s police chief, retired in December 2013.
• Paul Battershill was forced to resign as Victoria police chief in August 2008 after he was accused of having an affair with a police board lawyer. At the time, the lawyer was being paid by the police department to give Battershill labour advice about such things as severance packages for officers under his command.
Senior staff said they had lost confidence in his leadership and refused to work with him.
A subsequent RCMP investigation concluded Battershill did nothing criminally wrong. He resigned after the Victoria Police Board said it had lost confidence in his leadership.
