Capeless Statement on Steroid Probe

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The articles, rumors and blogs about the investigation into the use of steroids by local law enforcement officers has prompted the district attorney to address the ongoing investigation through a statement released on Tuesday afternoon.

District Attorney David F. Capeless revealed the name of the state trooper implicated in the probe, Daniel Gale, and confirmed that Pittsfield Police Officer David Kirchner was removed as a member of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force.

Indications that the investigation was undertaken by authorities outside the county were confirmed in Capeless' statement. The district attorney says the allegations of steroid use were brought to his attention after a "local police department was contacted by a federal agency." Capeless does not state which police department or which agency (the U.S. Postal Service has told local media that there is an investigation but not into who or what).

The probe was first revealed by postings on the discussion site Topix and on a blog run by former county resident GM Heller and Daniel Valenti's PlanetValenti.com.

The Berkshire Eagle

has followed up with two articles that revealed Kirchner's involvement and that of a than unnamed state trooper from the Russell barracks in Hampden County.

Capeless said he had decided to make the following limited public statement about the investigation:

"Over the past week, the public has been exposed to rumors, in addition to hard information, regarding steroids and their sale and use here in Berkshire County. Ordinarily, it is the firm policy of my office not to confirm ongoing investigations, much less to divulge their specifics, in order to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of our investigative efforts. However, exceptions need to be made when either public safety or public confidence is being jeopardized by a lack of information.

"In this case, I have decided to make a limited public statement, divulging only that information necessary to adequately explain the circumstances, since there remains an ongoing criminal investigation.

"Several weeks ago, a local police department was contacted by a federal agency to alert them that an investigation into the importation of steroids had uncovered deliveries into their town. A joint investigation was undertaken which resulted in the seizure of steroids and the execution of a search warrant. An examination of recovered materials revealed that two law enforcement officers, Pittsfield Police Officer David Kirchner (a member of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force) and state police Sergeant Daniel Gale (then assigned to the Russell barracks in Hampden County), had apparently been the recipients of steroid deliveries. So far, no information has been uncovered which would indicate involvement in anything other than personal use of steroids by these two, or that any other officers were involved. 

"When the information about the two officers was discovered, the local investigating officer, a member of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force, notified his supervisors in the Task Force, who immediately notified me. Since Kirchner was, at the time, a member of the Task Force, it was agreed that we would seek assistance from outside the county in continuing the investigation. State police investigators normally assigned to other units in other jurisdictions were dispatched and are presently engaged in furthering that investigation. Colonel Marian McGovern, the head of the State Police, and Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn were informed of the situation, and each has initiated administrative proceedings while the criminal investigation is underway. Kirchner was immediately removed from the Task Force.

"I take very seriously any allegation that a law enforcement officer has broached the public trust by engaging in criminal activity, and I take just as seriously the reputation of all of the rest of us in law enforcement who honor that trust and continue to guard the public with integrity. No arrests have been made and any decision regarding criminal charges relating to these circumstances will be made with a very clear eye towards those two principles but only upon completion of the ongoing investigation."