http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pbsteroids20dec20,0,2026193.story
1 of 14 officers in West Palm is cleared
By Chrystian Tejedor
Staff Writer
Posted December 20 2005
West Palm Beach · The city's police force will test its own officers for steroid use after nine remain on desk duty and one could be charged criminally following a monthslong internal affairs investigation into their purchase of anabolic steroids, Police Chief Delsa Bush said Monday.
The department also will inform new officers on the affects steroid use has on their bodies, Bush said.
Of the 14 officers investigated, one was cleared and 13 were found to have violated departmental and collective bargaining agreement policies, including: engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer, failing to notify a commander of their use of controlled substances and failing to establish a proper doctor-patient relationship.
"Anabolic steroids, if prescribed by a doctor and if the officer told a commander, would be perfectly legal," Mayor Lois Frankel said.
Officer Alejandro Gutierrez, who was cleared, and officers Felix Leon, James Sniffen, Joseph Swiderski and Lt. Jack Yates, who did not have traces of steroids in their bodies but could still be disciplined for their purchase of the prescribed substances, returned to their duties at least six days after they were tested Aug. 24.
The other nine are: Sgt. James Cink, officers Craig Davis, Steven Detter, Kevin Harrell, Dewitt McDonald, Sean Meyers, Joseph Myers, Daniel Panko and Dennis Wrobbel.
Bush will not mete out punishment while some officers appeal the findings.
West Palm Beach police also are conducting a criminal investigation of Myers.
Internal affairs investigators began looking into the officers after the Food and Drug Administration in February raided the offices of Deerfield Beach-based PowerMedica, which the FDA suspected was selling mislabeled human growth hormones and anabolic steroids without valid prescriptions.
Among documents federal agents seized was a list of customers, shared in August with West Palm Beach police, who determined 14 officers were customers.
Bush ordered an investigation Aug. 18, the internal affairs report shows. Deputies from Broward and Palm Beach counties and Delray Beach police officers have also been investigated.
According to interviews with the officers, some heard of the company from other officers, ads in health and fitness magazines, and in several cases, through Myers' wife, who was a PowerMedica employee and would often deliver the officers' drugs.
While a federal investigation found that PowerMedica would sell human growth hormones and steroids on its Web site without the patient submitting blood work or visiting with a doctor, the West Palm Beach officers either submitted blood work or filled out medical questionnaires, the report shows.
The investigation revealed that officers paid for the hormone replacement therapy out of their own pockets because the company would not accept payments from health insurance companies.
Police union officials on Monday defended the officers and threatened to file a complaint if officers were tested for steroid use because it's not allowed in the collective bargaining agreement, said Ernie George, president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association.
"They'll have to negotiate for that like they had to negotiate for random drug testing," George said.
He also thought internal affairs investigators were going after the victims in this case -- officers who thought they were receiving lawful treatment for a medical condition.
"Everyone wants to push back aging," George said of the affects the human growth hormones and steroids had on the officers. "Everyone wants to feel 20 years old."
George questioned whether the department has the authority to sift through an officer's medical records and whether the policy stating that officers must inform their commanders of their use of controlled medication was ever enforced.
Chrystian Tejedor can be reached at [email protected] or 561-243-6645.
1 of 14 officers in West Palm is cleared
By Chrystian Tejedor
Staff Writer
Posted December 20 2005
West Palm Beach · The city's police force will test its own officers for steroid use after nine remain on desk duty and one could be charged criminally following a monthslong internal affairs investigation into their purchase of anabolic steroids, Police Chief Delsa Bush said Monday.
The department also will inform new officers on the affects steroid use has on their bodies, Bush said.
Of the 14 officers investigated, one was cleared and 13 were found to have violated departmental and collective bargaining agreement policies, including: engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer, failing to notify a commander of their use of controlled substances and failing to establish a proper doctor-patient relationship.
"Anabolic steroids, if prescribed by a doctor and if the officer told a commander, would be perfectly legal," Mayor Lois Frankel said.
Officer Alejandro Gutierrez, who was cleared, and officers Felix Leon, James Sniffen, Joseph Swiderski and Lt. Jack Yates, who did not have traces of steroids in their bodies but could still be disciplined for their purchase of the prescribed substances, returned to their duties at least six days after they were tested Aug. 24.
The other nine are: Sgt. James Cink, officers Craig Davis, Steven Detter, Kevin Harrell, Dewitt McDonald, Sean Meyers, Joseph Myers, Daniel Panko and Dennis Wrobbel.
Bush will not mete out punishment while some officers appeal the findings.
West Palm Beach police also are conducting a criminal investigation of Myers.
Internal affairs investigators began looking into the officers after the Food and Drug Administration in February raided the offices of Deerfield Beach-based PowerMedica, which the FDA suspected was selling mislabeled human growth hormones and anabolic steroids without valid prescriptions.
Among documents federal agents seized was a list of customers, shared in August with West Palm Beach police, who determined 14 officers were customers.
Bush ordered an investigation Aug. 18, the internal affairs report shows. Deputies from Broward and Palm Beach counties and Delray Beach police officers have also been investigated.
According to interviews with the officers, some heard of the company from other officers, ads in health and fitness magazines, and in several cases, through Myers' wife, who was a PowerMedica employee and would often deliver the officers' drugs.
While a federal investigation found that PowerMedica would sell human growth hormones and steroids on its Web site without the patient submitting blood work or visiting with a doctor, the West Palm Beach officers either submitted blood work or filled out medical questionnaires, the report shows.
The investigation revealed that officers paid for the hormone replacement therapy out of their own pockets because the company would not accept payments from health insurance companies.
Police union officials on Monday defended the officers and threatened to file a complaint if officers were tested for steroid use because it's not allowed in the collective bargaining agreement, said Ernie George, president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association.
"They'll have to negotiate for that like they had to negotiate for random drug testing," George said.
He also thought internal affairs investigators were going after the victims in this case -- officers who thought they were receiving lawful treatment for a medical condition.
"Everyone wants to push back aging," George said of the affects the human growth hormones and steroids had on the officers. "Everyone wants to feel 20 years old."
George questioned whether the department has the authority to sift through an officer's medical records and whether the policy stating that officers must inform their commanders of their use of controlled medication was ever enforced.
Chrystian Tejedor can be reached at [email protected] or 561-243-6645.