The Oklahoma City Police Department will implement random drug testing next year but will not test for anabolic steroid use by police officers. Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty, while acknowledging “isolated incidents” of steroid use, rejects the notion that steroid use by cops is “rampant” or a “systemic problem” (“Steroids not on Oklahoma City Police Department radar,” November 29).
The Oklahoma City Police Department and its officers’ union, the Fraternal Order of Police, are in negotiations to implement random drug testing in 2009, but steroids are not on the list of drugs to be tested for.
Police Chief Citty listened to Phoenix Police Commander Kim Humphrey sing the praises of steroid testing as the solution to roid rage in law enforcement at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in San Diego. But Citty is not convinced the use of anabolic steroids by police officers will cause the type of violent and aggressive roid rage that would threaten the lives of the public in Oklahoma City.
At the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference this month in California, Phoenix police Cmdr. Kim Humphrey told the San Diego Union-Tribune illegal steroids are a growing problem among American police ranks.
Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty attended the conference but said he doesn’t think steroid use among police officers is a “systemic problem.
“I don’t think it is running rampant through law enforcement agencies, Citty said. “But I’m not going to sit here and deny … there are some officers are either using or have used in the past.
Citty has overseen steroid investigations in the Oklahoma City Police Department during his tenure as police chief.
During Citty’s five years as police chief, three Oklahoma City officers have been investigated on allegations of steroid use, police Capt. Steve McCool said. Two of the officers were cleared. The third, Sgt. Ira Buchanan, was disciplined in June 2005 for possessing and using steroids, according to an internal, written reprimand released to The Oklahoman. Buchanan was suspended for 15 days without pay and ordered to attend a counseling program for substance abuse and image concerns. He successfully completed a one-year probation period and submitted to random drug testing for two years, coming up clean each test …
The problem with cops using steroids involves the potential corruption of law enforcement obtaining anabolic steroids through illegal steroid distribution networks and NOT the alleged potential for “roid rage.” The potential for corruption was seen when Plano police allegedly purchased steroids from steroid dealer David Jacobs who threatend to expose his customers to the media; the same police department was involved in his steroid bust and the investigation of his subsequent death a few months later. The Canby Police Chief, who also happened to attend the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, allegedly covered up steroid use by an officer who purchased steroids while on duty in full uniform.
Anabolic steroids would probably not be such a bad idea for cops – if they were not ILLEGAL!
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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