9 West Palm police officers face action over stero

[Junkyard Dog]

9 West Palm police officers face action over steroid use
By Andrew Marra

Nine West Palm Beach police officers could face termination or suspension after an internal affairs investigation found they have been using steroids supplied by a Deerfield Beach company under federal investigation, officials said.

The officers are facing possible punishment because they may have been using the controlled substances without valid prescriptions, according to officials.

Police Chief Delsa Bush is weighing what action to take.

The officers' names came to light in June after the federal Food and Drug Administration seized records from PowerMedica, a Deerfield Beach company that supplies hormone supplements such as steroids, police Lt. Chuck Reed said.

Twelve officers listed as customers in company records were called in for blood tests by the police department, officials said. Of the 12, nine tested positive for "a controlled substance," Reed said.

The police union said the officers had been victimized by the company and did not realize they were given invalid prescriptions.

The union president said the controlled substances in question were steroids.

"The company was using a doctor's name to give the prescriptions out," said Ernie George, president of the Police Benevolent Association. "They (the officers) thought everything was legit."

Officials refused to release the names of the officers or comment on specifics of the investigation. A city spokeswoman said Mayor Lois Frankel and Bush, the police chief, would hold a news conference Monday.

George said the officers were not using the steroids to build muscle mass. Some were using them because of medical conditions and others were trying to slow the effects of aging, he said.

He said the only reason the department learned of the officers' purchases was because they wrote on their applications for prescriptions that they were police officers.

"If you believed that you were doing something illegal, would you write down that you're a police officer?" George said.

The West Palm Beach Police Department is not the only South Florida law enforcement agency caught up in the federal investigation of PowerMedica.

In February, eight Broward County sheriff's deputies were placed on administrative duty after their names were linked to the company, according to The Miami Herald.

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