Employment contracts of Victoria police Chief Paul Battershill, his expenses and an accounting of the costs of a review on Tasers are among close to 400 pages of documents released Monday that relate to an investigation of Battershill.

Victoria police Chief Paul Battershill has been put on administrative leave since Oct. 11, after a sensitive legal document was leaked to the media.
(CBC)

The documents are a result of provincial Freedom of Information requests filed by Victoria lawyer David Mulroney, who represents a client Mulroney refused to name.

The request for information on Battershill subsequently led to his suspension and an RCMP investigation.

B.C.'s police complaint commissioner ordered the investigation last Friday into undisclosed matters concerning Battershill, who has been put on administrative leave pay by the police board since Oct. 11.

Victoria police disclosed the documents to keep with "open transparency," said Sgt. Grant Hamilton, a spokesman for the Victoria Police Department.

The documents include the employment contracts of Battershill, and seven deputies who are still on the force, along with the employment contracts of four others who have retired or been fired during Battershill's term.

Sensitive information blacked out

But the sensitive information, like the severance packages for the members, is not included for privacy reasons. There have been criticisms that Battershill allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance, while the department was short on officers.

Other documents include the chief's expenses — none appear questionable — but the names of private citizens who dined or travelled with Battershill have been blacked out, again for privacy reasons.

There is also an accounting of the costs for a review on Tasers, along with an investigation the chief conducted into the actions of a West Vancouver police officer.

Hamilton said the department can't say much about what has been released, because the police complaint commissioner has asked police, the mayor and anyone else connected to the controversy to keep quiet while the RCMP investigate the chief's actions.

It's not clear from the documents released Monday just what actions have caused the commissioner to order an independent investigation. The embattled chief has not responded to any media inquiries.

Meanwhile, the Victoria police board will decide on next Nov. 5 whether to suspend Battershill until the investigation is complete.