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The SEARCH for TRUTH, THE GRANGER MEMO, plus, TOUCHDOWN, PPD OFFICER SOURCE, SCORES FOR WE THE PEOPLE in STEROIDsGATE

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BY DAN VALENTI

ADD 2, April 18, 2011: A call is placed.

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE) — We can share this brief update. The Planet called Chief Wynn this afternoon. His secretary did not pick up nor did the chief, so the call kicked into voice mail. I left the message that if Chief Michael Wynn wants to correct any misstatements of facts or help The Planet improve the accuracy of what we are sharing on SteroidsGate and its tributary issues, we would love to get this information.

The issue is transparency, for the police and The Planet as well. We are not hiding anything nor trying to “uncover” anything. We are simply responding to information from various sources that is coming our way. The sources are real. The information they provide is, also. We don’t claim it is the entire story. We don’t favor any agenda other than the truth.

The truth does not fear the light. It welcomes the light and retreats from the darkness. The Boring Broadsheet will not present the truth, as is its first responsibility as a source of mainstream journalism, and they can live with their conscience and declining circulation. We can live with our conscience and our growing circulation.

The Planet has no dog in this fight. We simply go where the evidence leads us. If SteroidsGate begins and ends with one police officer and one state trooper, no one will be more grateful than us. We do remind our readers that there are at least two investigation ongoing, one local by a law enforcement agency not the PPD that Chief Wynn has not identified, and by the feds connected with the Postal Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

ADD 1, April 18, 2011: Memo on the Loose

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, APRIL, 18, 2011) — Let The Planet be clear. We have not solicited sources from the PPD other than official calls, mostly to Chief Wynn. Our informants are coming to us. We are about free speech and sharing of information and opinion, checked out as best we can. This is cyberjournalism. While it undergoes the vetting of print (as The Planet conducts it, anyhow), cyberspace is more of a frontier and badlands. That is the delicate balance that makes this medium so dynamic.

We are open to anyone who wants to talk. That’s never a guarantee the information will be used, and in point of fact, little of what it shared with us ever sees the light of day. It’s too fantastic, too whack-jobbed, too whatever. We remain open to anyone in the police department, from Chief Wynn to the janitor, and certainly all of the command staff who are not happy with the allegations being made by The Planet’s informants If there can be corrections to the factual record of the claims, we want them. We will publish such corrections. If the DA wants to share information, we will run it. You get the idea.
That being said, we present the first few paragraphs of “THE GRANGER MEMO,” sent by Capt. David Granger to PPD officers last week.
We will submit without comment, as received from one of the officers who was a recipient.
FROM CAPT. DAVID GRANGER
Typically I would not comment in a department e-mail regarding what is posted on Blogs or in the paper, but the person or persons behind the various unauthorized releases of information, particularly to Valenti, deserve comment and the officers of this department deserve to have their command staff defend them.

First when someone tells the truth it is never an issue or a problem, no matter if the truth is good or bad for the individual or the department.  I have always supported what is fair, right and proper and encourage any member of the department to do the same.  If you lie, falsify reports and act improperly you get what is deemed appropriate punishment by the Chief, the City Labor Attorney and the appointing authority.  The record of discipline (which has been reviewed by Civil Service) has been fair and consistent over the years and I support this.

But I will never support half truths, distorted facts, made up lies and personal vendettas against individuals and character assassination, particularly when they come from a fellow worker(s) and are portrayed in the manner they have been on Valenti’s blog.  (fortunately not many intelligent people read or associate themselves for long with a blog as malicious and self serving as his)

It is unfortunate that officers make mistakes and engage in improper behavior at times but officers are human beings and just like all human beings they make mistakes and engage in improper behavior at times.   This is not an excuse but the reality of the world we live in.  Society is imperfect at times, officers come from society, so therefore officers will be imperfect at times.

The real problem is the behavior that this person or persons are engaging in doesn’t just affect the officer or officers written about, it affects their entire family and the families of all officers.  I single out and concentrate on the sworn members of the department because each unauthorized internal release of information has been directed at sworn officers and has been used to paint all officers with the same brush.

The Planet will only add that we, too, share Capt. Granger’s dislike of half truths and distorted facts. Again, we are open to any correction of the record that PPD Command wishes to make. As noted many times in our reportage on SteroidsGate, The Planet is on the side of all police personnel, city personnel, and public who want only truth, justice, and honesty.
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Officer Touchdown Scores

Good week,everyone. The sun is shining on The Planet, but doesn’t it always? It is the one place in the known universe where one does not have to light a match to see the sun.

It was a busy week and weekend, with the yardwork getting done, the flora and fauna abloom, and sources within the Pittsfield Police Department speaking up and out. Sources aren’t using names, but they are giving information in secret meetings help in vacant parking garages. Don’t you like the “All the Presiden’ts Men” touch?

For the first time, we share some direct words, culled from the notebook. One source, code name Touchdown, tells the Planet:
“[The Planet reported that] Chief Wynn has stopped all drug OT. That’s true. Those drug investigators, who used to work a questionable 80-hour week — 40 hours on regular shift and 40 on OT, have been stopped. Now the drug investigators are working “road jobs” to make the money.
“Road jobs are were police officers stand around talking their cell phones while Verizon or Berkshire Gas works on a job site. These guys haven’t done this in 10+ years, so why now? Because the OT gushing well has been capped, for now.”
Touchdown continues: “The other scam that has come to a close is that Chief Wynn ordered the drug bureau to stay in Pittsfield and fight the drug crime in Pittsfield. The whole PPD drug bureau, posing as the County Drug Force, used to go to other cities or towns — North Adams, Great Barrington, Lee, etc. — to do drug stings. I think people could understand one or two guys, but the whole drug bureau? Come on.

THE PLANT INTERJECTS: SO TWO, TANGIBLE GOOD THINGS HAVE COME ABOUT FOR TAXPAYERS AS A RESULT OF OUR COVERAGE OF STEROIDsGATE: OT and KEEPING DRUG INVESTIGATORS IN THE CITY, WHICH IS WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.
Touchdown resumes: “The whole drug bureau has often been out of town doing a sting for 3-4 days, with nobody left in Pittsfield.
“You are right on the money about Kirchner and courts. [The Planet, citing community concerns, questioned if the cases that office David Kirchner worked on as a drug investigator have been imperiled by the findings of the PPD’s internal report that concluded that he had engaged in criminal activity]. Chief Wynn and the DA are scrambling now because it has been said that these guys [accused drug offenders] caught by the PPD drug force awaiting trials are questioning through their lawyers the integrity and expertise of the rest of the drug bureau.
“It would be a great question to pose to Chief Wynn, Capt. Granger, and Sgt. Strout (current PPD drug bureau leader),” Touchdown says, “First, that if these guys are putting in 40 hrs a week in OT (all turn in OT forms for day-shift hours) during the daytime shift, why are some officers not assigned to that shift to end the need for all that OT? Second, why does the drug bureau have weekends off? This again would eliminate the need to call a drug investigator on the weekend, and would give another cost savings to Pittsfield’s tax base. I would love to hear the answers to those questions.”

The Planet thanks Touchdown for the information. To “prove” that Touchdown is inside the PPD, TD shared what’s on the internal bulletin board at this moment: A tip-a-cop fundraiser poster and an article from the star tribune dot com website. It’s sort of like a hostage being photographed with today’s newspaper.
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notho
notho
13 years ago

How do we know who is doing or has done steroids, it could well be some of the people you have mentioned, for all we know. Mandatory testing is the only answer.

noto
noto
13 years ago

Nothing from phony on the radio either. His buddy who praised the task force here made bookoo bucks on overtime, almost his annual salary.Over150g

arpaint
arpaint
13 years ago

What in the world is going on when members of our police force are working in other towns and are we paying for it? They are always calling for more people for PPD. And they wonder why the tax payer gets upset. I wonder how many other things are going on that we are not told about. It is things like this that make tax payer not trust Government. I suppose that no one sells drugs on the weekend either.

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
13 years ago

So Dan Touchdown says that all cops use their cell phones when on road jobs? Come on Dan you want us to believe that a cop told you this? Dan you phony bastard I think your making things up. How unprofessionial!

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
Reply to  danvalenti
13 years ago

Dan what benifit is it for this “officer” to give you inside info? My guess is if he/she gets caught they are going to be in a bunch of trouble.

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
Reply to  danvalenti
13 years ago

All it does is make the WHOLE department sound bad ps Im not a cop.

rick
rick
13 years ago

every time i see a cop doing road work their on a cell phone….. one way to prove it is get their cell phone records.im sure they would gladly give them to the planet, to prove everyone wrong.

rick
rick
13 years ago

hey duke, maybe these cops talking to dan dont want to be lumped in with a few bad eggs, and maybe they dont like to be told who they can or cant talk to… i know if it was me being told not to talk, i would be singing to the choir.

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
Reply to  rick
13 years ago

police are para military. When you want to talk you have to go through the chain of command.

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
Reply to  danvalenti
13 years ago

Dan I meant the cop has to go through the chain of command.. PS Today is a holiday. I don’t think the Chief would be working today or his secretary either.

Cindy Berkman
Cindy Berkman
13 years ago

Duke, are you one of the drug task force officers effected by this loss of money? Of all the information and portion of Captain Granger’s email, all you get from it was “cops use their cell phones when on road jobs.” It seems kinda like delfection to me.

If I worked for PPD, I would want my upper management to confront these stories and/or rumors, wouldn’t you? I just read on Topix that somebody is starting to name names as the person who originally got caught in this sting. Is it true (it is Topix after all), who knows? But hiding from it won’t make it go away? It just makes it get worse.

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  Cindy Berkman
13 years ago

You are absolutely right. They are definitely hiding more and everyone keeps digging because we know they are hiding much more

Duke Dufour
Duke Dufour
13 years ago

Maybe its the cop who tried to give Oprah a letter awhile back. Same cop who maybe has a hard on for the drug cops who sent his drug dealing son to the slammer? Just wondering.

arpaint
arpaint
13 years ago

Dan I am glad that you have put out the information that you have. No one should be afraid of the public reading about what is going on unless they have something to hide. The good and honest personal have nothing to worry about and will continue to have the support of the tax payer. The ones that are not doing the right things while on the job or off should find another line of work.

Joe Pinhead
Joe Pinhead
13 years ago

Capt Granger,
How are supposed to believe your statement regarding the information leaked out of the PPD?
You start out your paragraph with “But I will never support half truths, distorted facts, made up lies and personal vendettas against individuals and character assassination, particularly when they come from a fellow worker(s) and are portrayed in the manner they have been on Valenti’s blog. “ and then you assassinate the character of those that read and or contribute to the blog. “(fortunately not many intelligent people read or associate themselves for long with a blog as malicious and self serving as his)”
You hide behind accusations made by yourself but fail to use the facts to which you drew these conclusions from. Please do enlighten us the unwashed masses of the information and the facts you used, this would allow us the public to see if in fact you do support the use of “ half facts, distorted facts and made up lies”
Another interesting point in your rant is the lack of any obligation either you or any other officer has to the public and its right to be fully informed and how that might assist the public in supporting the mission of the PPD. Are we the public only responsible to foot the bill? Or are we owed the respect of knowing what if anything is going on within the ranks of the PPD I remind you the department has a larger obligation to the public than it does to the brotherhood.

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  Joe Pinhead
13 years ago

Well said!

Cindy Berkman
Cindy Berkman
Reply to  Joe Pinhead
13 years ago

Nice point, Joe. Also, try to keep in mind, Capt Granger is the head honcho of internal affairs. I like his “character assasination” line also. If I’m not mistaken, the person who’s “character” he’s referencing is Officer Kirchner. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Officer Kirchner admit to purchasing illegal drugs to Capt Granger in his (Granger’s) internal affairs report? So people, including Dan and all of us, wanting to know if this is a blip on the radar screen or a wide spread problem as some have suggested, is “half facts, distorted facts and made up lies?” Well Capt Granger, as your letter to your fellow bretheren suggests, time to “man up.” We wait with baited……well, open ears.

GMHeller
GMHeller
13 years ago

Sure seems like Capt. Granger is doing all he can to warn his fellow officers on the force not to talk to the evil Dan Valenti, but what is this guy, who is also in charge of PPD’s Internal Affairs Unit, doing actually to root out steroids users still on the force, along with busting their respective suppliers?
Note that Chief Wynn in his press release NEVER announced he was actually going to undertake his own internal investigation, ONLY that the fed probe had uncovered only one of his guys.
Typical lawyer’s trick to misdirect attention and to omit a key point (especially since a lawyer, not the chief, apparently wrote that incredibly misleading press release).
The key point is that PPD appears NOT to be in the midst of its own internal investigation.
That tells one and all that PPD officials and the eerily silent Mayor (silent on this subject of illegal drug use in the department) do not want really to know who is using, who are the sources, nor how deep the problem actually goes.
The public therefore has a right to think the worst because the Mayor himself is doing nothing to make people think otherwise.

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  GMHeller
13 years ago

You are totally correct. You have been so silent lately?

Scott
Scott
13 years ago

If “blogs” like this are so insignificant then why even waste your time worrying about it? Looks like what Dan is doing is working and they’re getting scared don’t forget who pays you Mr. Granger…

Guy N
Guy N
Reply to  Scott
13 years ago

Scott 7 different people out of 24 blogs! Wow thats significant! NOT

scott
scott
13 years ago

Like I said if it’s so insignificant why are they specifically singling it out and showing concern? Also the amount of people who comment on it has no relation to the site traffic perhaps Dan can post his site traffic info provided by his host company.

vives
vives
13 years ago

@ G M, did ya see what might be 2011 sto.. of the year?

GMHeller
GMHeller
13 years ago

@vives
vives, Is this AV posting?

2011 story of the year?
Was it The Berkshire Eagle making the determination, or other media outlet?

vives
vives
13 years ago

That stock ya got from moi, the one ya made fun of! How ya been.G M? See your still kicking butt.

GMHeller
GMHeller
Reply to  vives
13 years ago

@vives,
Are you referring to that dog, BCON? 🙂
The one that did a 1 for 10 reverse stock split and, even with that, is still facing delisting from NASDAQ?

Didn’t buy any BCON, but did buy BP when it tanked.
Now THAT is doing well, thank you!
How and where U been?
So what’s this ‘2011 story of the year’ to which you refer?

GMHeller
GMHeller
Reply to  vives
13 years ago

@vivies,
How would you like a job interviewing customers at the local gyms and fitness clubs and getting the lowdown on the extent of anabolic steroids use in Pittsfield?
You’d be a natural; who’d lie to vives?

vives
vives
13 years ago

noonebutmaybetovivies? BP. excellent!

GMHeller
GMHeller
Reply to  vives
13 years ago

Probably, the 2010 Berkshire County story-of-the-year was the scandal involving Angelo Stracuzzi.

John
John
13 years ago

Stick around, the 2011 story might be the same.