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It was about 15 years ago when the voices of those on the other side grew louder. Bergman was driving in Maine with his wife when he suddenly knew that an elderly woman had died at 2:30 that afternoon. They later learned her mother’s best friend had, indeed, died at that exact time. Bergman, whose Salem address was just off of Ocean Avenue, recalls his disbelief.
"I didn’t even have a cell phone in the car. How could she locate me?"
A few days later, similar knowledge struck him, at four in the morning, about an elderly man they knew.
"Once it started happening to me, I couldn’t stop it ... and I didn’t want to stop it," he says.
Secret revealed
Among his stoic fellow police officers, Bergman didn’t feel he could open up much about the gift he first recognized as a young boy. A few years before his retirement, however, his reputation as a medium was a cat about to be let out of the bag.
He was about to be named as a talented medium on a Web site by James Van Praagh, author of "Living with the Dead" and executive producer of the CBS TV series "The Ghost Whisperer."
"If anyone is going to be skeptical, it’s police officers," says Lt. Conrad Prosniewski, spokesman for the Salem Police. "But that doesn’t mean we’re close-minded."
It’s not exactly police protocol to check in with psychics on homicide cases, says Prosniewski, but because this is Salem, where many claim to have the ability, Salem Police have taken a look at information brought to them by psychics.
While Prosniewski doesn’t recall Bergman actually using his ability to aid Salem detectives, his office was next door to Bergman’s. He knew more than most officers about Bergman’s interest in all things psychic. Still, he says, Bergman had an "absolutely normal police career," with a beat like everyone else.
He worked Highland Avenue for many years and finished his career as a "computer wizard," coordinating and backing up the in-house computers. It wasn’t until later in his police career, when he began to seriously study mediumship, that the rest of the force came to hear about Bergman’s ability.
"I wouldn’t call it coming out of the closet," says Prosniewski, "but that’s about what he did."
As the truth came out, he was not harassed for his sensitivity to energies or his ability to contact spirits, says Prosniewski. Instead, a few of his fellow officers came to him to learn more about their deceased friends and relatives.
"I can only thank God that I was lucky enough to be on that department," says Bergman, praising Captain Robert St. Pierre for his leadership.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Police Department won’t even use his services for free, says Bergman, who claims he has some good information on one of their cases, to help nab someone frequently appearing on "America’s Most Wanted."
Toward the light
Being in Salem, with its claim of open-mindedness and tolerance, helped Bergman open up to the fact that he had this gift.
"I remember seeing Laurie Cabot about town when I was doing my police work," he says. "I always thought it was a costume they were wearing. I didn’t put any credence in it at all, but then when I learned they’re into Mother Earth, I truly had respect that this was their right.
"I think it opened me up, as a person, to do what I’m doing and say there are many things out there that we don’t understand, but we can reach out and grab them."
As his gift unfolded, Bergman sought the advice of Barbra Szafranski, at the Angelica of the Angels shop on Central Street, and soon became her student.
Szafranski says she was not surprised to discover this interest in a police officer. She teaches psychologists, doctors, lawyers and people from all walks of life.
"Everyone has this gift," she says. "We just have to open ourselves up consciously and reach into our subconscious. Chuck is born with an open consciousness, which is why he is able to connect a lot faster than others."
Last fall, Szafranski lost her own partner in love and work to a car accident. She recalls that when it was time for Bergman to dedicate his life to his more spiritual side, they supported him and told him to follow his gift.
Bergman, 55, now enjoys the sunshine and his brand new Florida home and back-yard swimming pool. Although his gift leads him to talk about death, he enjoys life’s simple pleasures - a cold beer and a good steak. He has a toddler, as well as two grown children, one who lives in Salem and the other in Danvers.
He runs well attended weekend seminars all around the state of Florida, and gets calls and visits from people all over the world looking for information about their loved ones. Are they watching? Are they proud? Are they still holding a grudge about something?
Bergman is sought out by movie stars, millionaires, people who work for NASA ... you name it.
"You’d think it’s morbid and scary, but it’s just the opposite," he says. "It’s about life more than death, and about living life and enjoying it while we’re here."
Messages of comfort
The majority of what Bergman is doing is letting people know their loved one is still around. Bergman can tell a person their deceased relative’s absolute favorite food or what type of car they drove.
"It would be easy to say ’it’s your dad and he loves you, he loves you. He didn’t spend enough time with you.’ But when we come out with what company he worked for and the name of his best friend," says Bergman, "people love to hear it.
"It’s very comforting. They want to know when their dad or son left here, that they didn’t vaporize and are gone. They just want proof, and that’s why people want a reading."
A friend of Bergman’s, who works at the Salem courts and wished to remain unnamed, has found comfort in what he has learned about his departed loved ones.
"He calls me and, while we’re chatting about how he likes Florida and so forth, my relatives will come in," he says. "The information is so accurate, it’s just phenomenal. This has happened 15 or 20 times."
His relatives don’t give advice or predict his future, says the man. Instead, they simply let him know they are close.
"Chuck [Bergman] says they just want you to lead your own life and make your own decisions," he said. "They just validate their existence by telling you what may have occurred recently in your life or places that you’ve been.
"A lot of people just don’t believe in it, but the examples are so numerous. The messages that come through are just love, respect and kindness. It’s no gloom or doom or anything like that. A lot of people think he reads your mind or something, but it’s not like that. It’s so heartwarming. And he’s helped so many hundreds of people."
Bergman’s long career as a cop helps him separate himself from the tragedy he sometimes encounters. But mostly what he hears over and over is people saying they would give anything to have one more day with the person they love.
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