VANCOUVER - Former Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham will be under the public microscope again, this time for his role in refusing further investigations of a 2005 incident in which a 15-year-old girl alleged she was tied up while in police custody.

The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner announced Monday it would hold a public hearing into allegations of unlawful detention and excessive force by two Victoria Police Department members.

Current Victoria Chief Const. Jamie Graham took the job only this year, almost four years after the May 2005 incident involving a Victoria teen, Willow Kinloch.

But as top cop in Victoria, Graham decided twice the allegations were “unsubstantiated,” based on his review of a final report on the matter, despite concerns with the report from the OPCC.

Kinloch, then 15, alleged officers cuffed her and tied her to a door for hours after she was arrested. At the time, Victoria Police said their use of force in restraining her was justified.

Last year, a civil trial awarded Kinloch $60,000 in punitive damages. Kinloch and Victoria Police have since reached a legal settlement.

Sgt. Grant Hamilton, a department spokesperson, said the force would cooperate fully with the hearing. But the news comes after multiple investigations and a civil trial.

“It seems like there’s been a fairly exhaustive review of this on many different levels,” Hamilton said.

It won’t be the first time Graham has taken heat for defending his officers.

As police chief in Vancouver, a 2008 OPCC review made a ruling of “discreditable conduct” against Graham after he was judged to have not done enough to ensure his subordinates cooperated in an investigation in the force.

Earlier, the Pivot Legal Society had filed affidavits of 50 Downtown Eastside residents who complained of mistreatment by VPD officers. While an internal VPD probe dismissed the allegations, an RCMP investigation initially substantiated nine of the claims.

Irwin Loy reports for Vancouver 24 hours.