B.C. police watchdog plans to appeal court ruling involving suspended chief

British Columbia’s police watchdog will appeal a court ruling quashing parts of its investigation into misconduct allegations against Victoria’s suspended police chief. (Photo: Victoria Police Department/ Facebook)

VICTORIA –British Columbia’s police watchdog will appeal a court ruling quashing parts of its investigation into misconduct allegations against Victoria’s suspended police chief.

The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner says in a statement that it will provide its reasons for the appeal within 30 days.

B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson released a decision last week that narrows the scope of the commissioner’s investigation by quashing two of five allegations against Frank Elsner.

The ruling found that the Victoria Police Board conducted an internal investigation and reprimanded Elsner for discreditable conduct and misuse of his department’s devices after he sent sexually charged tweets to the wife of a subordinate officer.

The court decision said those issues can’t be revisited by the commissioner, but the office can examine whether Elsner contacted witnesses and if he gave misleading information to the subordinate officer and an independent investigator.

Elsner has been suspended with pay from his role as chief a year, and he had asked the court to set aside the commissioner’s probe, arguing that an internal investigation had already been done.