Victoria police chief put on leave after document leaked: mayor

Victoria's police chief has been put on administrative leave after a sensitive legal document was leaked to the media, the city's mayor said Thursday.

Alan Lowe confirmed the police board held an eight-hour meeting Wednesday evening to discuss whether the board should take action.

"We determined that police Chief Paul Battershill was to be placed on administrative leave effective immediately," Lowe told the Canadian Press.

"This will enable the police board as well as Chief Battershill to review and respond to the issues that have been brought to our attention."

Battershill's leave is paid and he has been informed of the board's decision.

He is currently in Halifax representing the police department and is scheduled to speak about conflict of interest issues at a conference Friday.

The A Channel television station in Victoria reported the controversy originated with Battershill's expenses, but Lowe wouldn't confirm or deny that.

The mayor would only say the letter that was leaked was sensitive.

"It definitely was a privileged piece of information, or privileged letter, lawyer to lawyer, which was released," Lowe said.

"We as a police board have to act upon what we saw and heard about it."

Lowe said the action was not taken lightly.

Battershill is well-respected in policing circles and has been asked to lead several high-profile inquiries, including one into police use of Tasers.