Does anyone know if cops are tested for steroids?

[marym625]

I am sure there us some type of drug testing, whether random tests or on a regular basis. But do they specifically test for steroids?

I find it difficult to believe that all this aggression is natural in so very many. I understand an adrenaline rush. I understand anger causing a physical outlet. I don't understand, nor do I believe, that so many can be so volatile over so little in so many cases.

Don't get me wrong. I whole heartedly believe that training, attitude, racism, etc play a huge role in the unending, seemingly unprecedented, cases of police brutality. But I also think there's something more involved. And I think it's steroids.

[TexasProgresive]

1. Thank's for bring this up again.

I have posted several times suggesting that some police are abusing steroids and are 'roid raging on the street.

[marym625]

6. Me too

I think many of us think it. There's no doubt in my mind that the guy that murdered Eric Garner is a steroid abuser.

[Dont call me Shirley]

30. But congress (issa) is too busy holding hearings regarding steroid use in pro-baseball.

[marym625]

32. Well we can't have the wrong team winning

What a tragedy that would be.

[Dont call me Shirley]

41. Win, win, win at the cost of all life on this planet

[marym625]

42. exactly!

And I will defend your right to win with your life.

but also

[Brickbat]

2. Some departments do, some don't.

[marym625]

4. They should

Minimally, they should immediately after any incident if at all possible. Screw this testing the victim only.

[FuzzyRabbit]

31. Seattle police are not tested for steroids.

My understanding is that it is in their union contract that they cannot be tested for steroids.

Steroid use by police across the country is a problem, that is for sure. From http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/8/5/10465/46858 :
Victor Conte, the founder of the lab known as Bay Area Lab Co-Operative, who helped numerous athletes cheat, said to AOL News that it wouldn’t surprise him if as many as a quarter of police officers were using some type of steroid drug.

From http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1512&issue_id=62008 :
" . . . growing evidence suggests a similar abuse of AASs and other performance-enhancing drugs by law enforcement professionals. Across the United States, several investigations associated with Internet pharmacies and “antiaging” clinics in association with unscrupulous physicians have revealed officers caught up in this web of illicit drug use.

Although the traditional reason for the use of AASs is to improve athletic performance, AASs also appeal to officers wanting a tactical edge or an intimidating appearance. Unlike with other forms of drug abuse, steroid users do not take their drug recreationally; on the contrary, some state they need these drugs in order to do their job effectively or improve their “job performance.” From street officers who consider themselves vulnerable to bigger, more aggressive criminals to special-assignment officers who are regularly tested for their physical abilities, officers are turning to performance-enhancing drugs such as AASs and HGH as a shortcut to improved performance. . . ."

[rock]

3. I have an alternate theory which I just posted on another thread

The low pay and power ride (the job comes with a loaded gun) attract scaredy-cat, low-intelligent, asshole bullies. Of course, they could be on steroids and other drugs too!

[marym625]

5. Bad combination

All that with steroids.

[951-Riverside]

7. That is a good question

[marym625]

8. whoa!

I hope I'm not supposed to know who that is. I don't have a clue.

[Marr]

11. lol, that is just hilarious.

He could've saved a lot of money and time by just having "I Have Manhood Issues" tattooed on his forehead.

[marym625]

28. For the douche, for the douche, for the mother-fucking douche

Got more chains than Mr. T
Ad I pity the fuckwad who messes with me
'Cause I'm doin roids 'til my balls get teeny
Like Dennis Quaid in Innerspace up inside the weenie


This Party Took a Turn for the Douche :

This song works for so many things on so many levels

[meow2u3]

9. Steroids aren't the only drug of choice some (bad) cops seem to take

I wouldn't be surprised if the cops implicated in police brutality cases are alcoholic or at least have a drinking problem. Excess alcohol makes some people irrational and short-fused to say the least, and people in authority with drinking problems tend to abuse such authority.

[marym625]

17. Good point

Either or both. But they should test if someone dies at their hands, they should be tested. Train, bus drivers are. Anyone in a car would be. How are they exempt?

[jmowreader]

10. Steroid testing is expensive, so probably not

[marym625]

18. ah! I didn't know.

Well there ya go.

Wow. what a thought.

[KamaAina]

12. That was my thought when Wilson said Brown "looked like a demon"

"Was this guy hopped up on something?"

[marym625]

19. You mean Wilson, right?

[KamaAina]

25. Yup.

[marym625]

26. Oh good

[liberal_at_heart]

13. Not that is excuses the behavior but maybe some of these cops are dealing with PTSD.

If that is the case, we need to find out and get them the help they need.

[davidn3600]

14. Especially ones that were ever in the military

[marym625]

20. I agree with that completely

But they shouldn't have been on the force at all. Should be part of the psychological testing.

[Iggo]

15. Should be mandatory.

And there should be no objections from the boys in blue.

Not doing anything wrong, nothing to worry about, and like that.

[marym625]

21. like I said up the thread a bit

Train engineers, bus drivers, anyone operating anything at all, a fatality happens and they're tested. Cops shouldn't be above the law.

[hunter]

16. I've encountered some like that.

As a rough estimate, I'd say half of all cops are cops for all the wrong reasons, and the other half rarely speak up about that.

[marym625]

22. It's a shame

Unfortunately, I think it is going to take the courage of the ones that do things right to speak up for there to be any change

[Generic Brad]

23. Or donuts?

[marym625]

24. That's it!

It's the fucking doughnuts!

[Historic NY]

27. Most have random drug testing like some other public and

private employers require. I sure it would turn up as it does identify substances .

Basic tests screen for amphetamines (speed, meth, ecstasy, crank, etc.), cannabinoids (marijuana, hashish), cocaine (coke or crack), opiates (heroin, morphine, opium, codeine), or phencyclidine (PCP).

Extended tests might screen for barbiturates, benzodiazepines, ethanol, hallucinogens, inhalants, or anabolic steroids.

Tests may involve urine samples, saliva tests, hair samples, sweat patches, breathalyzers, or blood tests.

Anabolic steriods cannot be used w/o a prescription.

[marym625]

29. I'm sure you are correct

But random tests that don't screen for steroids and not testing when something happens, is inexcusable. Anyone walking around with a gun and a badge should be tested, just like so very many other public and private industries.

If Zimmerman (I know he isn't a cop but he still should have been tested) Wilson, Flanery, Pantaleo, still unnamed cop that shot Kajieme Powell, etc had been tested, we might, just possibly, already have come to some agreement and more new laws passed besides just how many are murdered.

[BrotherIvan]

33. If you google "cops on steroids" there are tons of articles uncovering steroid use

But nothing is ever done about it. Cops who use it claim it gives them an advantage over criminals. But plenty of times I've gotten the veiny, roided up cop giving me orders. They have a hair trigger and now they know they can kill civilians with impunity (because the DA will make sure there is never an indictment).

I mean, who would ever think these cops are roided up? They just work out a lot!




https://www.popularresistance.org/police-violence-cops-on-steroids/

[marym625]

36. The only one that looks like

Perhaps, maybe, just a slight possibility, he's not taking steroids, is the guy in the first row, far right.

Scary.

[BrotherIvan]

39. Rookie

They'll whip that boy into shape. The cops are also the dealers in their own locker rooms. Looks like it's mandatory on this squad. Sheesh. I know a few firefighters and they workout all the time, it's one of the things that attracted them to the job (they also do forest fires) because they like being physical. Plus, they say if you're too slow, you're dead. They are incredibly strong and fit, but not a single one looks like the picture. That's for intimidation. That's why those "men" are attracted to the job with the gun and the shield that lets them live out their Rambo fantasies. The recruitment targets violent, anti-social people to join the police force by using the same tactics of our military.

[RKP5637]

34. Excellent question!!! n/t

[Scuba]

35. Darren Wilson was not. There's a link to an image of his post-shooting toxicology report ....

... that's been posted on DU.

[marym625]

37. I read through the entire transcript

I don't recall a toxicology report for Wilson. I will have to check again. Thanks!

[CK_John]

38. Who does the hiring in your town, is it by competitive test or do you have to be related to the

local town mayor or the car dealer that provides police cars.

[hack89]

40. Depends what contract their union negotiates. nt