Victoria’s police board is prepared to go to court for more disclosure about suspended Police Chief Frank Elsner’s alleged misconduct.
The board says it can’t make a decision on whether Elsner should be suspended without pay or fired until board members read documents that were compiled for the Office of the Police Commissioner. RCMP Supt. Sean Bourrie has submitted a final report after investigating, and two retired judges, appointed as discipline authorities, have issued a decision on how to proceed in light of the report.
At an in-camera meeting Monday, the board decided to file a petition in B.C. Supreme Court to have the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner hand over the report and a copy of the discipline authorities’ decision.
The board continues to pay an annual salary of $206,000 to Elsner, who has not been at work since December 2015, and is paying some of his legal fees.
Last week, police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe said the retired judges had found enough evidence to send eight allegations of misconduct to a disciplinary hearing.
A press release went out with “very serious allegations and saying there’s enough evidence,” but “we don’t know what that evidence is,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, police board co-chair. “And that is very concerning.
“The chief is our employee. We cannot make decisions about confidence in the chief, suspension without pay, or any other decisions, without information. We have been kept in the dark which has limited our ability to make informed decisions.”
Helps acknowledged that there’s no requirement under the Police Act for the commissioner to release the report to the board, but said his office “has an obligation to keep us informed.”
The board said its goal is to obtain the documents outside the court system to keep legal costs down. “Our taxpayers are paying for these reports and having to go to court to get them we feel is an unnecessary expense,” Helps said.
Deputy police complaint commissioner Rollie Woods said his office has been in touch with police board lawyers about releasing the reports. “We responded, through counsel, that we wouldn’t be able to give it to them. If they want to file a petition to the Supreme Court, we’ll certainly respond as quickly as possible to try and expedite the process and see if we can get a date in court.”
Woods said the commissioner does not have the authority to give the final investigation report and the discipline authorities’ decision to the police board.
Under the Police Act, only the complainant, the officer being investigated and the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner get the report and the decisions, Woods said.
In addition, both Helps and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins were interviewed by investigators, so they are potential witnesses in the discipline proceeding, said Woods. “If the chief asks for witnesses, he could ask for them. Also, if there is a public hearing, they would be potential witnesses. So the final investigation report includes the evidence of all the witnesses and it would not be appropriate for them to review evidence from other witnesses when this process is still ongoing.”
He stressed that none of the allegations against Elsner has been substantiated.
Elsner will face disciplinary hearings on six allegations of discreditable conduct, one of inappropriate use of department equipment and one of deceit.
Retired B.C. Supreme Court judge Ian Pitfield found there was enough evidence to proceed to a hearing on allegations that Elsner engaged in unwanted physical contact with female staff at the Victoria Police Department, that Elsner made unwelcome remarks of a sexual nature and inappropriate comments that could be seen to objectify female staff, and that he leered at and inappropriately stared at female staff members.
Retired judge Carol Baird Ellan found enough evidence that Elsner sent inappropriate Twitter messages to the wife of one of his officers, which constituted a breach of trust. She also found enough evidence that Elsner provided misleading information to an investigator and to an officer under his command.
The disciplinary hearings must start before April 25.
ldickson@timescolonist.com
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