Phoenix Police Commander Kim Humphrey will advise police leaders around the country on ways to reduce “roid rage” in law enforcement at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in San Diego on November 9, 2008. It seems that the use of anabolic steroids by police officers could threaten the lives of the public at large presumably due to violent aggression of roid rage (”Police Dept. leads way on steroid testing,” October 9).
“Steroids can be a life-safety issue, not only for the user, but for the public,” said Humphrey, who is speaking at a national conference in November alongside Dr. Gary Green, a UCLA sports medicine expert and adviser to Major League Baseball on anabolic steroids.
The Phoenix Police Department, the Phoenix Fire Department and the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association joined forces to create the Phoenix Steroids Task Force after the widespread steroid use was exposed by local media, a DEA probe and an internal investigation. It appears that police officers were trying to gain an unfair advantage over criminals (”Phoenix a pioneer in steroid-testing policy,” October 19).
Like athletes who ignore testosterone-induced side effects to gain a competitive edge on the field, a handful of Valley law-enforcement officers were investigated because authorities believed they were using anabolic steroids to gain an edge on the streets.
Of course such “cheating” was unacceptable and the lack of a “level playing field” between police and criminals would not be tolerated. Read more
The Phoenix Police Department has experienced its fair share of problems with the use of anabolic steroids by its officers over the past couple of years. An investigation by the local Phoenix CBS affiliate and KPHO.com exposed widespread use of steroids in the Phoenix PD. A subsequent federal investigation by the DEA and internal probe by Phoenix P.D. confirmed the same thing (”Federal steroid probe widens: 5 investigates how Phoenix police are responding,” July 23, 2007).
As a result, the State of Arizona has been under a greater deal of political pressure to do something about the “problem.” Today, we learned that the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board has agreed upon a course of action to eliminate steroid use by Arizona police officers (”State acts on ending officer juicing: Doctor works with State board on new rules,” March 21).
Arizona could soon be the first state in the country to forbid the use of illegal anabolic steroids in their police officers.
The introduction to the article caught me by surprise. After all, the illegal use of anabolic steroids is already a felony under federal law therefore illegal in ALL states (police officers included). The non-medical use of anabolic steroids is already prohibited by federal law and most state laws; most police departments around the country have explicit policies forbidding illegal steroid use by its officers as well. So, how could Arizona be the first state to ban illegal steroid use by police officers?
After reading the article carefully, it appears the new rules really don’t do anything to further enforce existing rules banning the illegal use of anabolic steroids. Instead, they seek to restrict the “medical use” of anabolic steroids by the officers under its authority.
The new rules give the State the authority to intervene in the doctor-patient relationships of police officers and define the acceptable medical treatment should an officer’s physician prescribe anabolic steroids.
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Any officer using injectable anabolic steroids must notify their commander within 72 hours.
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They must supply a doctor’s prescription within a week.
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The prescription can’t be any stronger than the FDA approved dose of 300 mg per two weeks.
The rules are allegedly needed because some physicians illegally prescribe steroids to police officers. If the steroids are illegally prescribed, why aren’t the physicians targeted? Why are the medical records of officers invaded instead? Why are local police departments given authority to dictate acceptable medical treatment for its officers?
Why does the State of Arizona feel an invasion of medical privacy is justified? Apparently, anabolic steroids become unacceptable the moment an officer starts lifting weights or bodybuilding or getting bigger!
“If somebody needs steroids where they have a disease or they can’t produce testosterone, they’re OK but if someone’s using it to bodybuild or get bigger, they’re not under the protection of the law,” Gutman said.
If the primary concern is hyper-muscular officers or bodybuilding, then perhaps a more effective policy would be to enforce maximum body mass index (BMI) as a condition of employment? Or ban officers from working out?! Of course, that is silly.
“Arizona will be the first state in the nation to protect its police officers from the ill effects of long-term steroids use and protect the public from somebody who has a steroids rage,” Gutman said.
It seems a little hypocritical for state officials to point to protecting the “health” of officers when they send officers out on the street to face violent offenders where they put their life at risk everyday. It seems to me that the best way to protect the short-term and long-term “health” of officers would be to provide them with every possible advantage over their opponents (i.e. dangerous criminals).
That really leaves protecting the public from so-called steroid “roid rage” as the primary reason that use of anabolic steroids by law enforcement is a major concern. Roid rage and the psychological effects of anabolic steroids have been covered extensively by true scientific researchers like Jack Darkes, PhD, a substance abuse expert at the University of South Florida.
Attorney Philip Sweitzer also has an excellent analysis of the issue of anabolic steroids in law enforcement (”Drug Law Enforcement in Crisis: Cops on Steroids“). I highly recommend it.
In closing, enjoy this video commentary below, courtesy of Steroid.com (”Cops and Steroids – Who Cares?”)
