A high-ranking Saanich Police officer used police resources to conduct at least 92 searches on his ex-girlfriend and her family while stalking her over a period of five years, according to documents exclusively obtained by CTV News.
A misconduct probe into Staff Sgt. Andrew Walsh, who was the head of the detective division for the Saanich Police Department at the time, began in April of 2021 after a woman he previously had a romantic relationship with made a report to the province's Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
The next day, she contacted the Saanich Police Department, where she had worked for 30 years. One of her primary worries was that Walsh had used police databases to get information about her. She made the formal complaint soon after.The 2021 incident, the investigation found, was just one example of what was described as"egregiously serious misconduct" committed by Walsh after his relationship with T.B. ended in 2017.
Otherwise, the province's Police Act prevents the office from releasing information or confirming an investigation is underway or has taken place. "She conveyed that she wanted nothing to do with him and her messaging was consistent with ‘Have a nice life, goodbye.’ T.B. also stated that prior to this conversation at the church, she blocked Staff Sergeant Walsh’s phone calls, however did not know how to block email," the discipline authority found.
The decision then details the 2021 incident that prompted the formal complaint by T.B. Walsh did not attend the disciplinary proceeding, but he did provide a statement during the investigation in which he offered an explanation for why he was in the area of T.B.'s home on that day. "There can be no explanation and there was none provided for the excessive use of a police database other than it was for personal gain for Staff Sgt. Walsh seeking information about T.B. her family, and her personal life," the disciplinary decision reads.
He also denied searching several individuals that records later revealed he had sought information about.While Walsh did not attend or participate in the proceeding, a union representative made submissions on Walsh's behalf. The decision says they explicitly refuted some of T.B.'s allegations about the nature and extent of his"harassing behaviour."