MONTAGUE — The Montague Police Union has registered displeasure with comments made by Police Chief Charles “Chip” Dodge suggesting one of them may have stolen drugs from the town’s prescription drug drop box program.

The union — representing the patrolmen and sergeants in the department and not the administrative members of the police force — expressed its disappointment in a statement sent to the Recorder, which last week reported that Dodge had been the subject of an attorney general probe into alleged mishandling of the drop box. The article quoted a summary of an interview Dodge gave state police investigators in which he implied many officers may have had access to the discarded drugs that were stored in his office.

“The members of the Montague Police Union were disheartened to read the Oct. 12 article in the Greenfield Recorder, which addressed the attorney general’s probe into the police department’s medicine drop box,” the statement said. “And while it is not our job or intent to point fingers, we do feel an obligation to set the record straight when the integrity of our membership is unfairly, and without any basis whatsoever, called into question.

“The police chief was quoted in the article. In particular, we are disappointed about his suggestion that perhaps one of our police officers may have come into the chief’s office after hours and ‘helped themselves’ to drugs from the drop box.”

The Recorder story said Dodge has been receiving treatment for prescription painkiller addiction for several years while an officer and then chief of the department. His addiction put him in the crosshairs of the state police probe into alleged tampering with his department’s prescription drug drop box in 2016. Dodge denied any wrongdoing associated with the program, and the investigation never resulted in anyone being charged, although it did find evidence of lax security of the drop box drugs.

“Police work, while extremely rewarding, is also extremely challenging,” the police union said. “The current opioid epidemic has only increased these challenges. Our officers have worked hard to help combat this crisis, and such baseless suggestions like those in this article, in our opinion, tarnish both the efforts and reputations of our officers and sergeants, making a difficult job even tougher.”

The union noted in its statement that no patrolmen or sergeants were questioned as suspects in the investigation, nor were they ever questioned about missing keys in the department. The union went on to say that no patrolmen or sergeants had keys to the drop box itself, nor were they disciplined in connection with the investigation, nor were they even aware of the investigation until the state police came to the department on June 23 to interview Dodge and that neither patrolman nor sergeants knew of The Recorder story before its publication. The union expressed displeasure that it was not given a chance to comment on the record.

It concluded: “Substance abuse is a serious issue and one that has unfortunately plagued both our town and our country for a long time. Montague officers, like police everywhere, are on the front lines of this fight every day. We deal head-on with the unfortunate domino effects of this addiction, including administering life saving Narcan medicine to overdose victims. The credibility of our members was never in question, and we remain committed to help those impacted by this nationwide epidemic.”

An email statement from Town Administrator Steve Ellis on behalf of the Selectboard affirmed the town’s support for the police officers.

“The Montague Selectboard greatly appreciates, and maintains complete confidence in the integrity and commitment of, the officers and staff of the Montague Police Department,” the town’s statement said.

Chief Dodge did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The selectboard has expressed confidence in Dodge, while not explicitly acknowledging that he is in recovery for opioid painkiller addiction.

Dodge told The Recorder previously that when pressed by AG investigators, he offered different possibilities that could account for the theft of discarded drop box pills. He said he wasn’t trying to pin the issue on any one person, but offering scenarios in which the drugs may have gone missing, because he was asked.

Reach Miranda Davis at 413-772-0261, ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com.