Cops on Steroids

[Taverner]

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=other.diseases.ailments&conitem=4a4403d513066010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____


Since there seem to be some folks who think cops are always good, the benevolent guardians of peace and justice, and would never, EVER take steroids - I'm here to rain on your parade...

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JUICERS IN BLUE

Officer Jimmy (not his real name) knew his steroid use was paying off when, one day, the Ohio policeman needed to wrestle a suspect to the ground--and the guy crumpled like a piece of wet cardboard. "It took no effort at all," Jimmy marvels. For Kevin, a military policeman, his steroid epiphany came as he was throwing a rowdy patron out of a Southern California bar: Kevin grabbed the guy by his belt and yanked him right out of his chair. "He landed about 2 feet behind me," he remembers. Former Suffolk County, New York, officer Tom Foley had a steroid moment of a different sort when, while vacationing in L.A., he was pumping iron at Muscle Beach--with visions of his idol, Arnold, dancing in his head--and spectators started taking his picture.

"It was unbelievable!" Foley exclaims with a bashful smile, holding up a framed photo from that session: a shot of his shirtless back, an explosion of finely cut lats and traps. Foley, 33, is seated on the back porch of his girlfriend's Long Island home, enjoying the simple pleasure of breathing free air. He's on his very first week-end furlough from prison, where he's nearing the end of a 3-year sentence. And while he's stayed in excellent shape behind bars, he's no longer Muscle Beach buff. "Yeah, it was amazing," Foley says, peering nostalgically at the photo. "And that was on 200 milligrams."

Just call them Juicers in Blue. With their rippling physiques and flair for battling bad guys, they call to mind a flesh-and-blood Justice League--or at least a casting call for a Van Damme movie. And these three men are hardly isolated examples. Cops have long been a hush-hush subset of anabolic steroid users, says Pennsylvania State University sports-science professor Charles Yesalis, Sc.D., author of The Steroids Game. "Most of the police officers I've known who have used these drugs consider them a tool of the trade."

The phenomenon cuts across the country: In recent years, cops in nine states have been accused of steroid-related crimes. Like the four Norman, Oklahoma, police officers whose steroid use was uncovered during a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation last fall, and who were fired. Or the Tampa, Florida, cop who gave a drug dealer a thousand Ecstasy tablets from a police-impounded car in exchange for steroids and was sentenced to 2 years in 2003. Or the Pennsylvania officer who in 2002 pleaded guilty to steroid possession--and to selling 'roids to two other cops.

Such incidents are sufficiently widespread that the DEA has published a pamphlet called Steroid Abuse by Law Enforcement Personnel, whose cover depicts two uniformed officers surrounded by floating syringes. Still, because juicing cops are a secretive subculture within a secretive subculture, experts have a hard time quantifying the problem. "Resoundingly, yes, I've heard many, many accounts of police officers taking steroids," says Harvard steroid specialist Harrison Pope, M.D., author of The Adonis Complex. "But it's impossible to put a number on it. Even if I got a federal grant to study this, I wouldn't be able to get that number, because of the veil of secrecy." Officer Jimmy, however, is less constrained. "Steroid use is very pervasive in law enforcement," insists the 26-year-old cop. "I'd say, of the cops I know, 20 percent to 25 percent of them are using."

Whatever the true tally, it raises the question of what this means for the average, mostly law-abiding civilian. The next time you're pulled over, will you be hassled by an officer raring for a fight?
If a cop loses control in a fit of 'roid rage, will your township get slammed with a brutality lawsuit? And, experts speculate, do steroids render cops less effective at their jobs, making you less safe?

"It hasn't been studied enough, and we need to know more," says Larry Gaines, Ph.D., chairman of the criminal-justice department at California State University at San Bernardino and the author of one of the very few research papers about cops on steroids. "We don't have a sense of the scope of the problem. And it is a potential problem, because of the potential for violence."

Officer Jimmy sees the matter differently. Although he professes to feel conflicted about juicing--it is, after all, a felony to take anabolic steroids without a prescription--he thinks 'roids made him a better cop. "What law enforcement needs is a little testosterone," he says. "Every cop should do a cycle a year."


SNIP....

[Shell Beau]

1. I can say I know many cops, none of those "juice".

My brother being one of those. He works very hard to stay in shape. He would never put anything unhealthy in his body.

[Blue Diadem]

25. Same here Shell.

Some overdo the alcohol but I've never known any that "juice".

[Warpy]

26. Same here, got to know a lot of them when I was a nurse

and 99% of them were decent guys trying to do a tough job. Oh, they were a little sleazy, knowing when to let things slide and when not to, but basically they were OK.

The other 1% should have been kept in a cage and fed raw meat, let out only on special occasions. Those are the guys who probably juice.

[Obamanaut]

29. Same here. I know many of the county and city LEOs, most of

whom frequent the same gym I go to - and none use "juice." They all work hard when they are in the gym - it is not a social occasion.

[Truth2Tell]

30. Wow. There sure are a lot of people on DU

who "know" that none of the cops they know juice.

I bet none of you think you know any closeted gay people or pot smokers either.

[Obamanaut]

35. I cannot say that all LEOs don't use "juice", because I don't know "all" of

them. The ones that I do know, however, do not use enhancements of any sort other than creatine, and I don't think that is considered "juice."

I would imagine that many on DU will latch on to anything derogatory about LEOs, military, walmart shoppers, fox tv viewers, drivers of non-detroit cars, anyone with more money than they have, non-union members, etc., just so they can sit at the cool kids' table.

I had to put my motorcycle on a trailer last Thursday, and a chief of police, a non-juicer, helped me. His son is a LEO, and a non juicer. The chief of police of my own small town is a non juicer, and he used to hang out at my house with a bunch of my daughter's friends when he was a teenager - non juicers. Several in that same group are LEOs or prison guards, non juicers.

If one wants to believe bad shit about people just because of their jobs, that's ok - not very bright, but still ok. But it doesn't make it true.

edited to change a couple of words for clarity

[Shell Beau]

36. I do know that the ones I know don't. They are all health freaks and

do not put anything unhealthy in their bodies. That isn't to say that there aren't cops out there that do. Jeez. This is a silly argument really. No one can prove how many do juice or don't. It just one other way to bash on cops.

[Truth2Tell]

38. Nor do you really "know" that the cops you know don't juice.

"Know" is different than "think." Really, look it up.

[Shell Beau]

39. Thanks for the lesson.

And yep I KNOW.

[WeDidIt]

2. I always suspected juicing by cops was rampant

I think it explains a lot of the over excessive force used so often.

When cops clean up their own, I'll start respecting cops.

[Taverner]

3. 20-25% is the guess by most on the force - but that's only cops out in the open

Think how many juice without telling anyone

[vadawg]

7. lol insists the 26-year-old cop. "I'd say, of the cops I know, 20 percent to 25 percent of them are

is the statement of this one guy and your taking it as gospel, you got to come up with better numbers than that..

[Taverner]

9. So should I conclude that high schoolers never smoke pot because we don't have any solid proof?

Jeez, you Gestapo Apologists are something else...

[vadawg]

12. lol you should be glad that i dont use evidence the way you do

proof is not something you just make up or by what you think it should be, its facts and figures and statements about what happened, not what you believe the truth should be...

[vadawg]

5. its not rampant, some cops are just assholes, some juice, some drink

some do coke, some are saints, some beat their wifes, its the same with firefighters, medics, doctors, nurses, teachers etc etc etc theres good and bad in every group and luckily as a society the bad are far outnumbered by the good.

[Taverner]

8. Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that

While you're at it, how about "Congress always has the US's best interests in mind," "Republicans may hate government, but they would never do anything to sabotage it" and "Lobbyists have little to no influence on Congressmen"

[vadawg]

11. lol why not just come out ans say it, you hate cops no matter who or what they do

and this is just your way of getting to bash them from the anonymity of the internet, at least be honest about why you are posting this crap, or do you really believe the BS that you are posting...

[Taverner]

15. No My dad is a cop. I love him dearly.

But I've seen too many roided out cops (yes,you can tell by looking at them) and seen cops juicing in the gym!

Those patches they're wearing aren't Nicotine patches you know....

[vadawg]

20. rofl, what else can you deduce about people by just looking at them

seems with your powers you should be solving murders or something, can you really be serious...

[Taverner]

23. Yes, people who take roids appear bigger and have huge bodies

You can't tell me this guy:



Got this way naturally?

[MidwestRick]

50. Problem with Valentino is...

he used a combination of steroids and synthenol oil to get that size, not to mention, he was a big guy before he started "juicing" so genetics played a part.

[CreekDog]

48. What percentage are you suggesting here?

In any position with physical demands would attract or be encouragement enough for some to use steroids.

If the use of steroids were significantly higher among police officers as opposed to firefighters, contruction workers and the like, then maybe we should talk about it.

But what are you suggesting as the rate of roid-ragers? 1%, 5%, 50%, 99%?

What's the rate of the population at large? Is it really that different?

Naming one or two guys in an article doesn't really suggest something rampant. If they are really being encouraged across the board to do this, then that would be news, but is it across the board? Is there even a hint that it's rampant or across the board?

I'm left with more questions than answers here and nowhere near believing the police are any more filled with steroid users than other comparable professions.

:shrug:

[WeDidIt]

27. I hold cops to a higher standard. n/t

[Gman2]

10. Nope, the reason they have a chip on their shoulder is: they were the guys that got their asses beat

by bullies. I knew many guys that joined. They were in the group, of guys like me, that fought constantly, cuz they wer smart, weak, nice, or skinny. I was skinny. Beat the hell outta EVERy bully I ever encountered. One guy, in fifth grade, was contacted by the CIA, for future recruitment. I saw the letter.

[TexasObserver]

4. Some departments seem to have juicers, while others don't.

[Taverner]

6. Oakland PD out here had quite a few

All of the "Riders" unit were juicers

[paulsby]

18. note that some may be juicing legally

the three ways would be

1) get a script from a HRT clinic. many clinics will give scripts for T in doses that while not "bodybuilder style" (e.g. 750 mgs of T per week), will significantly raise endogenous T levels. as long as the scripts are not written for the express purpose of physique enhancement, and do not rise the level of endogenous T significantly above the "therapeutic range".

2) for cops that live near the mexican border, cross the border, shoot up in mexico, and return to the states. no law is broken/

3) some cops take grey market substances (like superdrol) that are technically legal, but are pharmacologicallty, in every sense, a steroid (but such drugs are very hepatatoxic, since they are orals)

i suspect (2) is what ronnie coleman did. coleman was a texas cop and multiple IFBB champion heavyweight, and arguably the greatest bber ever. and there is NO way he was not juicing. it is not genetically possible for him to have grown as much as he did, as quickly as he did, with the level of BF he had, w/o juice.

i'm a competitive strength athlete myself and subject to random testing at any time, but some of the athletes i train with freely admit to juicing back in the day when the testing was nonexistent and/or not as rigorous.

[TexasObserver]

55. I would expect to see more in the riders.

Whether motorcycle or bike, those guys tend to be younger, more concerned with how they look, and more likely to need muscle.

[Taverner]

56. Clarification - The "Riders" aren't motorcycle cops or bike cops...

They were a special 'cream of the crop' anti gang unit that practically had carte blanche in gang infiltration and takedown.

Didn't have a warrant? No problem - they'd get one after the fact

If you want to really be scared about a bunch of out of control gorillas with guns, read up on them.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/23/BAGU0CT0ON1.DTL

[TexasObserver]

58. OK. The "Vic Mackey" squad.

[Taverner]

59. Yes the Sheild and The Trainee were based on them

But the show couldn't keep up with the revelations that came out of them

[Heidi]

19. Management differences, I'd guess.

I wonder whether/how management differences mitigate criminal and civil liability, especially when these are weighed by juries who are by definition the essence of community norms. :hi:

[TexasObserver]

22. I think that's probably right.

I would further suggest it comes down to locations, even in the same department. I've noticed that juicing cops seem to run in packs. I imagine one guy juices, and then introduces others to it.

Helps them catch those bad guys smoking weed, don't you know?! Here in Upside Down World.

:hi:

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

14. Do most police departments require their force to undergo regular drug tests

for illegal drugs and steroid use? If not, why not?

[vadawg]

21. a lot of the depts do regular testing, it all depends on the dept and the contract...

[Heidi]

32. A lot also depends on what is and isn't tested for, too,

just like any other employer.

[pleah]

16. You should see some of them down here on the coast, they look deformed.

[Echo In Light]

31. *

[Taverner]

17. Another story on the same subject

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3745740&page=1

[Soylent Brice]

24. K to the mother fucking R

[flvegan]

28. The tone of this article is pretty poor.

It doesn't touch at all on what exactly these cops were taking. It alludes to amounts, which is about worthless without the amounts of what exactly. What it does is cause an ignorant reader to think that 25% of their police force is juiced to the gills and ready (and wanting) to crack Joe Average's skull over a jaywalking violation in some almost mythical fit of "roid rage."

While I'd not dare deny that there are going to be cops out there that take steroids, to suggest that by taking even the lightest cycle of something will transform them into badge-wearing psychopaths with a "Hulk smash!" mentality is simply idiotic.

[asdjrocky]

33. I used to juice.

I've known at least a dozen cops who've done it, and still do it as well.

And you know what? No one in their family knows. So for those of you who are sure you know people and are sure they don't juice, you better think again.

[Shell Beau]

37. Are you sure no one in their family knows?

:eyes:

Again, because some do beef up, we must get paranoid and assume they all do.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

34. "Since there seem to be some folks who think cops are always good"

Ummm, who are these people? Can you find any? Can you link to any? Did you just flat out make up this non-existent group of people just for sake of giving a nyah nyah? Poor effort. Try harder next time.

[MidwestRick]

40. The mythical "roid rage" rears it's ugly head again.

Sorry, it just doesn't exist.

[Shell Beau]

41. Roid rage doesn't exist?

[MidwestRick]

42. No it doesn't

It's something that has been pushed by the media for years. It falls in the same area as refer madness.

[Taverner]

44. We didn't land on the moon either - it was all staged

And the Earth, its really flat...

:eyes:

OF COURSE ROID RAGE EXISTS!!

This has been tested, proven and repeated

[MidwestRick]

47. Feel free to link a single study that...

proves "roid rage". Steroids have a bad wrap, and Senators like Dick Durbin have fallen for the lies.

[Taverner]

49. Wikipedia has several studies listed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid

And in all fairness, some studies have shown there is no causation, and some have shown causation.


But its pretty simple - increase your testosterone and you will be more aggressive.

[MidwestRick]

51. steroid abuse vs steroid use

also note, any and all studies are not done on humans. In cases where "roid rage" is reported, these individuals have always had backgrounds in violence, so the causal effect of the additioanl steroids has not been proven as a link to the violence.

I have known plenty of people to use steroids. Not a single case of supposed "roid rage" ever came into play with these people.

[Taverner]

52. Now that I can buy - with that qualifier

I knew lots of folks who did small amounts of roids and had no ill effects

But some guy who beefs up like Barry Bonds in a year - that's going to be the rager

[MidwestRick]

53. Bonds didn't get that big

in one year, and most of his use was from HGH, not steroids. The HGH is what made his head grow, lol.

[Shell Beau]

46. So testosterone based steroids aren't linked to

psychosis, depression, mania, and increased aggression?

[AngryAmish]

43. Only one guy I went to HS with is a cop

And he juiced in hs, college and the last time I saw him looked like he has been a longtime HGH user. Lantern jaw, brow ridges and about 260 lbs on a 5 foot ten frame.

Vety small sample size. I know other cops who use jelly donuts and would never suspect roids.

[CreekDog]

45. Good thing he's a cop or that would be illegal

:hide:

(joking about that officer only) :D

[Enrique]

54. lol at your little intro

are there people who have been denying any cops would ever take steroids? I think you're raining on an imaginary parade.

[Taverner]

57. There are folks who think cops can do no wrong

And look at some of the threads - there are folks who think cops don't do roids