Police Dept. leads way on steroid testing

As the first major metro police agency to add random anabolic steroid testing for sworn officers, the Phoenix Police Department has become a national authority on the issue.

Since the city changed its random testing policy two years ago, departments in cities like Dallas and Albuquerque added similar programs.

The use of steroids for non-medical purposes is illegal. The pervasive issue of steroid use at police and fire departments has been a concern for years, especially as federal investigators have drawn more attention to steroid use among athletes.

In 2006, Phoenix updated its drug-testing policy to include anabolic steroids. The change was primarily to provide greater accountability for police officers, firefighters and commercial vehicle drivers.

This week, city staff reported that since random testing began, six of more than 3,600 anabolic steroids tests were positive.

Phoenix police Cmdr. Kim Humphrey, who oversees the department's Professional Standards Bureau, has been contacted by a number of police agencies, from the New York Police Department to smaller departments, for advice on how to approach testing.

Humphrey and other city staff worked closely with local labor groups to find an effective, authoritative way to eradicate illegal steroid use while protecting officers' rights.

"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.

"We focused on those issues more than the punitive or legal aspects, though it is illegal," Humphrey said.

As many as 12 Phoenix officers, along with others from other Valley police agencies, were investigated as part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration steroids probe triggered in 2007. Others have either resigned or faced termination in the wake of questioning.