Victoria’s police chief is apologizing after information in an officer’s lost notebook, including dozens of names and addresses, was allegedly circulated among the region’s criminal element.
In a media release Thursday, police said the officer lost the notebook over a five-day period in December.
The loss of the notebook was not reported at the time, and it’s not immediately clear how the book was recovered.
Police said they became aware of the issue in February, and that “contents of the notebook had been copied and were being circulated among the criminal element of Greater Victoria.”
“VicPD is also aware that the information contained in the notebook has allegedly been used to conduct a criminal offence in Saanich.”
The contents of the notebook included about 60 names and 50 addresses in the Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich and West Shore areas.
All were related to police actions or investigations, but there were no names or addresses of witnesses or victims, police said.
Police said they began notifying people who were identified or who lived at the addresses in question on Thursday.
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“The significant breach of privacy that has occurred is unacceptable and on behalf of VicPD, I apologize to everyone impacted,” Chief Del Manak said in a statement.
“We will be asking the (Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner) for an ordered external investigation and I can assure you that VicPD will fully support that investigation as we work to answer the many questions we have about these events.”
The OPCC confirmed it was notified about the incident “earlier this week.”
“The circumstances surrounding the loss of the police notebook are under review by the OPCC and decisions respecting the initiation of an investigation under the Police Act,including the identification of an appropriate external investigating agency will be made in due course,” Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Andrea Spindler said in an email.
In addition to notifying the affected people, police said they were providing them with information on how to create a safety plan and secure their homes. But they said there was no indication anyone in the book should be concerned about criminal activity.
Global News has requested further information from police, including how the notebook was recovered, why the incident was only recently discovered, and the status of the officer who failed to report the notebook’s loss.