Click the play button on the video window to the see the storyMore than three dozen Valley police officers and firefighters are under investigation for allegedly buying and using anabolic steroids prescribed by doctors at a clinic where steroids were a prescription of choice.
The clinic, Revolution Medical Centers, and its doctors are currently under state and federal investigation for illegally prescribing anabolic steroids.
"I don't think the federal government would be involved in this if there wasn't some kind of concern," said Phoenix Fire Assistant Chief Mark Angle. "We wouldn't have been contacted by the DEA if they weren't concerned about some of our folks being involved in their investigation."
Back in August, we watched as several uniformed firefighters walked in and out of
Revolution Medical Centers with little black bags in hand.
On more than one occasion, the firefighters arrived at the clinic in a fire truck.
After reviewing ABC15's video that shows a uniformed firefighter walking out of the clinic with three black bags, Angle said, "There will be an investigation."
"If these individuals are going in there in their uniform, whether they are getting into a personal vehicle or into a fire truck, and they’re picking up anabolic steroids knowing that those are substances they’re not supposed to be taking as a member of this department, then there’s going to be a problem," Angle said.
Sources close to the investigation told ABC15 that state and federal investigators have seized medical records of firefighters and police officers from jurisdictions all across the Valley.
"You know when they (the DEA) provide us with information like that, we’re certainly going to look at and see if it’s anything we need to deal with," said Commander Kim Humphrey, the head of internal affairs for the Phoenix Police Department.
Humphrey said federal agents investigating the doctors at Revolution Medical Centers recently gave him a list of a dozen potential employees of the Phoenix Police Department who were patients at the clinic.
When asked if any of those officers have been questioned as part of the investigation, Humphrey said, "We actually have only recently received some of this information from the DEA so we have not had an opportunity to fully look at all of this."
Humphrey said an internal investigation is underway, but the officers are still on the job.
"This is a federal investigation. It’s not ours," Humphrey said. "We need to wait and see what happens with theirs (DEA) and see if there are any issues we need to deal with from that aspect."
Angle said the Phoenix Fire Department is facing a similar dilemma.
"If us starting an investigation right now would do something to impede the federal investigation, we have to be very careful of that," Angle said.
When asked if firefighters are allowed to be taking anabolic steroids, Angle said, "No, they are not. In our drug testing policies, one of the banned substances is anabolic steroids."
But the Phoenix Fire Department only tests new recruits.
"When we hire someone and they’re going through our hiring process, our pre-employment, the city requires a pre-employment drug screen," Angle said. "At that point one of the things that folks are tested for is anabolic steroids."
Once they're hired, Phoenix firefighters are not subject to any further random testing.
It’s very different for Phoenix police officers.
"For over two years now, we’ve been conducting random testing for anabolic steroids," Humphrey said.
Humphrey actually pioneered the department's random steroid testing policy.
According to Humphrey, there have been six positive tests in the last two years.
Some of those officers resigned before an investigation was completed.
Humphrey said anabolic steroids are dangerous and illegal.
He said it’s a proven fact they can lead to "aggressive behavior and the so-called roid rage."
"And of course we wouldn’t want a police officer carrying a gun experiencing those types of issues," Humphrey said.
The Phoenix Police Department was actually one of the first major departments nationwide to implement a random testing policy for anabolic steroids.
Since then, Humphrey said departments in New York, Boston, and even Hawaii have turned to him for advice on implementing a similar strategy.
The ABC15 Investigators first reported on Revolution Medical Centers back in April.
The clinic has since closed both of its locations.
