It is difficult to see how Frank Elsner can continue to serve as Victoria鈥檚 police chief, regardless of the outcome of investigations and legal proceedings. His relationship with the community and the police department has likely been damaged beyond repair.
In a petition filed Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court, Elsner is seeking an order to halt an RCMP investigation into allegations that he exchanged inappropriate social-media messages with the wife of a subordinate officer. He is also trying to prevent the search of his work and personal emails and telephone records.
Elsner is also asking the court to order police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe to remove from his website the 12-page order outlining the allegations against him, saying that Lowe has no authority to order an external investigation into conduct that has been the subject of an internal investigation.
In August, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, co-chairs of the police board, received information that Elsner had exchanged Twitter messages with the wife of one of Elsner鈥檚 officers. They brought the information to the attention of the police complaint commissioner. The matter was treated as an internal discipline matter.
The board was told in December that Elsner had been disciplined, and the board expressed confidence in the police chief. The two mayors decided not to make the matter public on the grounds that it was a personnel matter.
Hours later, when asked by reporters about the police chief, both Desjardins and Helps denied Elsner was under investigation.
鈥淗e鈥檚 the best thing that鈥檚 happened to this town and Esquimalt in a long time,鈥� Helps said.
But Lowe reviewed the internal investigation and determined it failed the test of fairness, accountability and transparency under the Police Act. He said he had been given limited information when he agreed that the mayors could investigate the social-media exchange as an internal personnel matter. He said the investigation had significant shortcomings, and removed Helps and Desjardins as the disciplinary authority.
When the story became public, Elsner apologized, saying inappropriate social-media exchanges had occurred, but there had not been an affair.
Lowe asked RCMP Chief Supt. Sean Bourrie to lead a new 鈥減ublic-trust鈥� investigation into the social-media allegations against Elsner, as well as into allegations of workplace harassment submitted by the police union on behalf of four female police-department employees.
It should be emphasized that the investigations have not been completed; the allegations have not been substantiated. Like any other person, the chief is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. And Elsner, who has been on paid leave since December, is within his rights to take legal action to stop the investigations.
But if he succeeds, the controversy will never be cleared. Lowe said the allegations of workplace harassment are serious and, if substantiated, could constitute discreditable conduct.
Without an external investigation, a cloud will continue to hang over Elsner, the police department and the police board. The ongoing investigations already have taxpayers and the police department twisting in the wind; more legal proceedings will only prolong and worsen the agony.
Following two Victoria police chiefs who were the subjects of investigation for improper conduct, Elsner was brought in to make positive changes. He jumped right in with energy and an infectious enthusiasm. He certainly showed the skills and talent to move police work forward in the region.
But the water has been irretrievably muddied. Regardless of who鈥檚 to blame, trust has been eroded and relationships have been damaged. It鈥檚 hard to see how those relationships can be repaired.
