By MIA GOLDBERG
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly last week announced that the department will randomly test officers for steroid use, as it does for
narcotics, starting in July as the result of revelations that city cops illegally purchased steroids at a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn pharmacy.
Currently, officers are only tested if the NYPD has reason to believe they are using
steroids.
"Steroid use without a prescription for valid medical reasons remains illegal. It only makes sense to include steroids among the
illegal substances for which random testing and testing for cause are already conducted by the Police Department," Commissioner Kelly said in a
statement.
An internal NYPD memo sent in March warned, "The demand for anabolic steroids caused by their continued use in bodybuilding and
body enhancement activities created an illegal market for these substances that is supported through organized crime."
Over the past several months, an ongoing investigation of the Bay Ridge pharmacy, Lowen's, uncovered 19 NYPD officers who were
prescribed steroids. Six of them tested positive for the illegal substance, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne. Of those, five were suspended and one
placed on modified duty.
While the NYPD recently won a court battle to use hair analysis to detect the presence of certain illegal substances, urinalysis is
currently the only way to test for steroids.
Neither the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association nor the Sergeants Benevolent Association commented about the new policy.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly last week announced that the department will randomly test officers for steroid use, as it does for
narcotics, starting in July as the result of revelations that city cops illegally purchased steroids at a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn pharmacy.
Currently, officers are only tested if the NYPD has reason to believe they are using
steroids.
"Steroid use without a prescription for valid medical reasons remains illegal. It only makes sense to include steroids among the
illegal substances for which random testing and testing for cause are already conducted by the Police Department," Commissioner Kelly said in a
statement.
An internal NYPD memo sent in March warned, "The demand for anabolic steroids caused by their continued use in bodybuilding and
body enhancement activities created an illegal market for these substances that is supported through organized crime."
Over the past several months, an ongoing investigation of the Bay Ridge pharmacy, Lowen's, uncovered 19 NYPD officers who were
prescribed steroids. Six of them tested positive for the illegal substance, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne. Of those, five were suspended and one
placed on modified duty.
While the NYPD recently won a court battle to use hair analysis to detect the presence of certain illegal substances, urinalysis is
currently the only way to test for steroids.
Neither the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association nor the Sergeants Benevolent Association commented about the new policy.
