Victoria’s embattled police chief has taken his case to a Vancouver courtroom as he looks to stamp out an investigation into his conduct.
The drawn-out drama began nearly a year ago when Frank Elsner exchanged direct messages on Twitter with the wife of one of his subordinate officers.
An internal investigation led by police board co-chairs Barb Desjardins and Lisa Helps, the mayors of Esquimalt and Victoria, found that no inappropriate relationship existed between Elsner and the woman, but the direct messages were considered to be “inappropriate.”
But a subsequent review of the investigation by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner found problems with how Desjardins and Helps handled it.
“There was a number of problems with that investigation. It did not meet the standard or the test that we would expect from a Police Act investigation under the circumstances,” said Rollie Woods, Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner.
“It didn’t examine all of the issues in the way we would normally expect them to be examined, so the commissioner disagreed with the way the investigation was conducted and the outcome.”
Based on those concerns, Comm. Stan Lowe ordered an external investigation into the direct messages.
In court Monday, Elsner’s lawyer disputed the OPCC's authority to order an external investigation after an internal one.
Elsner has said he wouldn’t have accepted the internal investigation and its findings if he thought there would be another one.
Taxpayers are currently footing the bill for the legal fees of Elsner, Desjardins and Helps, as well as Elsner’s paid suspension from his position as police chief.
Lowe is expected to argue his case in court on Tuesday, while the hearing is expected to wrap up Thursday.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Robert Buffam
