The fortunes of former Greater Sudbury Police Chief Frank Elsner have taken another downward turn, with news emerging he has been formally suspended as head of the Victoria Police Department.
The move by B.C. Police Complaints Commissioner Stan Lowe on Friday is the latest blow to Elsner, who has been embroiled in controversy since December. That's when allegations emerged he sent inappropriate Twitter messages to the wife of one of the officers under his command.
The suspension is connected to new allegations he tried to hide evidence during the initial investigation. According to a story in the Victoria Time Colonist newspaper, Elsner is suspected of trying to “inappropriately influence potential witnesses during the internal 2015 investigation into the Twitter allegations and during the ongoing public trust investigation.
“The information alleges that Elsner asked a potential witness to make a misleading statement during the internal investigation and that Elsner sought access to the Victoria police archive computer server and deleted or attempted to delete emails during the internal investigation. It’s also alleged that Elsner asked a potential witness to destroy electronic data, after Lowe ordered the external investigation.”
In a statement to the media, Lowe said the accusations are significant.
“The commissioner has determined that the information discloses conduct which, if substantiated, would constitute three separate disciplinary breaches of public trust; one allegation of Deceit and two allegations of Discreditable Conduct,” the statement said.
“The commissioner has determined that it is in the public interest that these new allegations should be investigated by an external police force. He has designated the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate these matters.”
Elsner has been suspended with pay since December, and the public is paying his legal fees. Lowe appointed Ian H. Pitfield, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, as discipline authority in the case.
“It is important to note that the outstanding investigation involves allegations of misconduct, and in order to protect the commissioner respectfully requests that the public not rush to judgment or engage in speculation, and to await the completion of the process,” the statement said.
“In order to preserve public confidence in the investigation of police misconduct and the administration of police discipline, the commissioner will release a summary report to the public at the conclusion of the process.”
The investigation is expected to take no longer than six months to complete, so Elsner is suspended until October, pending the results of the probe.
According to a 2010 story in Sudbury Living Magazine, Elsner was born in West Germany in 1963 and came to Canada to live in British Columbia with his parents when he was 2. He started his career in policing in B.C., before joining the OPP and working in Nipigon. He then joined the Thunder Bay Police force.
He worked undercover in that city's drug unit. One operation, involving an organized crime family and lasting more than a year, resulted in a $1 million drug bust and 75 arrests. It was dangerous work, he told the magazine in 2010.
“I got beat up pretty good on one occasion, no scars but some broken ribs, hand, and a concussion,” he said at the time.
He eventually left undercover work and was deputy chief in Owen Sound before taking the same job in Sudbury in 2007. He became chief in Sudbury in 2009.
During his tenure here, Elsner was lauded for implementing a new model of policing, one that put much more effort on education and connecting with residents in problem neighbourhoods before issues occur.
The initiative was a success, with plummeting crime rates in the city. In one traditionally difficult area, Louis Street, intelligence gathered by community officers helped police identify and clean up problem areas to the point where calls for police dropped from several a week to a handful a month.
A mental-health initiative he led diverted police away from long waits in hospital emergency departments to outpatient clinics where people could be assessed far more quickly.
It was those initiatives that, in part, led to the job offer in Victoria in 2013. He said he would bring the community policing model and the other initiatives with him.
In October that year, Elsner thanked Sudburians for being so welcoming to him, his wife and his daughters during their time in Sudbury. He also bid an emotional farewell to the city.
“I've never been in a community that has treated me better,” Elsner said. “It's been the best time of our lives.”
