Chief’s gun improperly stored

Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham has been disciplined for improperly storing a gun in a police car, the second misconduct finding against him as city police chief.

The weapon was found in his car Friday while he held a news conference to announce the department had misplaced a cache of riot gear.

Graham admitted Wednesday he left his service pistol holstered under the seat of his unmarked car, parked in the department’s secure underground parkade, while he spoke about the “unacceptable” disappearance of equipment from the crowd management unit. Detectives searching the department’s cars and buildings for the cache found the chief’s gun in his car, contrary to department policy that firearms stored at headquarters “must be unloaded, placed inside a locking drawer within a locked locker, and not be left unattended.”

Police board chair Mayor Dean Fortin issued a written reprimand for neglect of duty. In February 2011, Graham was found guilty of “discreditable conduct” for telling a security conference an undercover officer drove a bus full of protesters to an Olympic torch relay.