Steroid dealer David Jacobs and his body builder girlfriend died under suspicious circumstances that police ruled a murder-suicide soon after he accused police officers from five Metroplex departments of being his customers. (Today's coverage inexplicably doesn't mention the police angle, but see these prior Grits posts and others linked below for background.)
It's a lot more important for public safety to ensure cops aren't using illicit steroids than is policing foot races or body building competitions, but you wouldn't know that by paying attention to state and federal enforcement priorities.
After Jacobs' death, no law enforcement agency disciplined any of his alleged police officer clients; of the five, only Dallas PD implemented steroid testing going forward. Otherwise, the officers Jacobs sold to have never been identified or disciplined, and are likely still on the force using illicit steroids.
In that light, there's a bold hypocrisy to pursuing amateur bodybuilders who were for the most part also merely Jacobs' clients. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If they're prosecuting bodybuilders who bought steroids from Jacobs, the police officers who purchased from him should be pursued just as aggressively.
See prior related Grits posts:
- Dallas PD will implement steroid testing after David Jacobs' allegations
- Possible suicide by snitch who alleged police doping deserves outside inquiry
- Informant who accused Metroplex police of steroid use turns up dead
- Plano steroid dealer said he sold to police in five Metroplex cities
- NYPD requires steroid testing of officers in wake of scandal
- Feds should check names of steroid customers with state law enforcement registries
- Where is Congressional investigation of steroid abuse among law enforcement?
- Steroid use negligible among high school jocks; what about testing police?
- Why test Texas high school athletes for steroids but not police officers?
- Arbitrator reinstates steroid using police officer
- Cops on Steroids
- Lawsuit: Private mercenaries, police trainers abuse steroids in Iraq
- Insert Shrunken Testicle Joke Here: Book by ex-Texas cop defends steroid use by police
- Readers back steroid testing for cops and high school athletes
And here we go again! Test those police officer so Grits well get of his soap box.
ReplyDeleteCharles Kiker here:
ReplyDeleteWould anonymouw 9:08 please tell us why the police officers should not be tested?
Charles can you tell me a good reason that they should be tested,other than they are public servants.The only people I see being tested is athletes.Police officers are not athletes they are there to protect you and me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see in the law where steriod use's legality is based upon career choice!
ReplyDeleteRe: "can you tell me a good reason that they should be tested,other than they are public servants"
ReplyDeleteI'll take that one. Steroid use exposes police to participation in the black market that can lead to corruption or even subject them to blackmail. As I've written previously: "so long as steroids are illegal, everyone should care if police officers juice. It's not just the possibility of affecting their behavior and judgment (so-called 'roid rage'), but because officers must engage in black market activities and expose themselves to implicitly corrupting influences in order to obtain the illegal drugs."
Also, there's much greater evidence of steroid use among police than, for example, high school athletes, for whom the state of Texas is spending millions on testing. If you want to catch a fish, cast your line where the fish are - that's why they're going after amateur bodybuilders, after all.
I'm not personally convinced steroids should be illegal, but so long as they are, enforcing the restriction on police officers is a lot more important than prosecuting baseball players, track stars or body building contestants.
We need to drop the myths and illusions in our criminal so-called justice system. The reality is that law enforcement are considered to be above the law. The law is not and never will be applied equally. Law enforcement officers are no more honest and ethical than the population in general. In fact, the profession may tend to attract more dishonest and unethical people. Yet, many people have been convicted and sent to prison on the word of just one police officer. I can think of numerous examples where it has been proven that police officers have committed perjury. In not a single example I can think of was one of these officers prosecuted. In fact, since their perjury is sanctioned by prosecutors they typically don't receive any disciplinary actions from superiors and are seen as "team players". Let's drop the BS and just be honest about it. Police officers are above the law and are not subject to the same laws as the general population.
ReplyDeleteI thought drug testing was about saving lives... even one. I know that the lives of police officers are extremely important.
ReplyDeleteIt's really about hounding, persecuting, a submissive peeing, or giving up something, submissively bearing humiliation for authorities, and punishing?
That's very interesting.
This is a cause I can embrace as a weightlifter myself. Let me add one more reason to Grit's list. Many cops work out at public gyms, where they are known as cops. When cops takes drugs, they set a bad example. It's not like doing a joint in the privacy of their own home. That's not how it works because most cops don't make enough to have their own home gym. While Grit's is concerned about the cops exposure to corrupting influences, let's not forget that the cop themselves can be the corrupting influence.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully stated, Anonymous 01:56:00, and the reality you state does not seem to ever be part of the discussions here.
ReplyDeleteCops are more likely than most to be caught up in steroid use. Suspected users of the illegal substance cannot be tested and investigated equally so using limited resources where they will garner the most protection and peace for the citizens dictates that suspected cops should be tested and dealt with first.
Our PDs are blackmail, extortion and bribery grids and who stays and who goes depends upon one’s level of entrenchment in that grid. I can imagine that roid user cops become top police employees and are rewarded in many many ways within that corrupt system.
Any yes, right now the cops themselves have become a corrupting influence. I am afraid of them. I do not trust them because I know they have to become team players on a very rotten team to have their jobs. If you are at a public gathering, particularly a protest event, and there are many cops present, you are stupid to stay there. You have to not protest anything anymore to stay out of jail in the once great USA. If cops weren’t so pathetically corrupt, they would quit their jobs and be out on the streets protesting with the rest of us. So much for our once trusted and revered “peace officers.”
When the full bore Orwellian police state gets installed, the people will be total sheeple with no civil liberties whatsoever and we won’t even need gun toting peace officers to be kept in line.
Hoverdrones, electronics, chemicals, biologicals, and directed energy devices will take over all police duties.
A really great reason to test cops is that there is a link between mental problems and stroid use, its one reason why its against the law in the first place. If a cop ooses his self control ue to steroids the results can be devestating.
ReplyDeleteIn that light, there's a bold hypocrisy to pursuing amateur bodybuilders who were for the most part also merely Jacobs' clients.
ReplyDeleteThe bodybuilders indicted were much more than clients of Jacobs who bought steroids for personal use. The only exception is the guy from Kansas who was caught ordering a personal supply and brought down the entire Texas steroid ring.
I say this because prosecutors DID ignore the many prominent pro bodybuilders who were clients of David Jacobs because they bought steroids for personal use only.
All the time and resources spent investigating one of the largest steroid distribution rings in the United States and no one goes to jail?!
ReplyDeleteThis was a major waste of funds. What do the police have to show for their efforts?
Oh yeah, they got to confiscated over 400,000 dosage units of anabolic steroids from those indicted!
1:56 p.m.,
ReplyDeletePlease cite your, "numerous examples where it has been proven that police officers have committed perjury." If you are going to come here and throw shit on the wall, at least let us smell it.
I'm not arguing that it does not happen, but you paint the picture that is an epidemic when in fact it is not. Cop hating is not a crime, but arguments like yours do not bring sympathy to your cause.
The case of a cop committing perjury that stands out most in my mind is a police detective, who later retired as lietenant, who in the Kerry Max Cook case stated that he could tell how old fingerprints were. He was later reprimanded by the board of fingerprint examiners (or something like that) and he later admitted that he was pressured to lie by the DA. Was he prosecuted? No. Did he receive any disciplinary action from his department? No. in fact he was later promoted to Lieutenant. Hi lie helped put an innocent man on death row yet he faced no consequences.
ReplyDeleteAnother good example is the case that was the subject of the book "Smith County Justice" where 2narcotics officers repeatedly committed perjury. These officers were actually punished.
Below is a list of articles citing "numerous examples" of police committing perjury that I found in less than 5 minutes.
There is more than enough evidence it is to say it is an epidemic. Here is a quote from one of the referenced articles from Alan Dershowitz's testimony in Congress on the subject:
No felony is committed more frequently in the United States than the genre of perjury and false statements
· Criminal cases often are decided “according to the preponderance of perjury”
· Police perjury in criminal cases is so pervasive that “hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every year testifying about drug arrests” alone
· The most heinous brand of lying (perjury by police officers) is the giving of false testimony that results in the imprisonment or execution of an innocent person
· Less egregious, but still quite serious, is false testimony that results in the conviction of a person who committed the criminal conduct, but whose rights were violated in a manner that would preclude conviction if the police were to testify truthfully
· Police Officers are almost taught how to commit perjury when they are in the Police Academy
· Police perjury is not anecdotal. Many commission reports prove rampant abuses in police departments throughout the United States
· Judges and prosecutors tolerate if not encourage police lying in court all in the name of convicting the factually guilty
· According to the Mollen Commission[2] the practice of police falsification is so common that it has spawned its own word – testilying
o Officers commit perjury to serve what they perceive to be “legitimate” law enforcement ends
o In the viewpoint of most police officers, regardless of the legality of the arrest, the defendant is in fact guilty and ought to be arrested
· When prosecutors are preparing for a trial, they often arrange “dry runs” as part of the trial preparation procedure. Frequently, prosecutors skirt along the edge of coercing or leading the police witness
o As a result, impressionable young cops learn to tailor their testimony (commit perjury) to the requirements of the law
· There are hundreds of thousands of police officers in the United States today that break the law and commit felony perjury as a calculated, premeditated offense designed to undercut the constitutional rights of unpopular defendants
Of all the instances when and where police officers commit perjury, the enforcement of drug laws top the list. And when it comes to discovering illegal drugs in a defendant’s vehicle, residence, possessions, or on their person, police have no fear or deterrent against conducting illegal searches and committing felony perjury; first by filing a false sworn affidavit, then by testilying in court.
Examples of this sort of felony perjury are also found in the Mollen Report. Examples are as follows:
· When officers unlawfully stop and search a vehicle because they believe there are drugs in it, officers will falsely claim in police reports and under oath that the car ran a red light or committed some other traffic violation
o Once pulled over, the police officer will search the occupants of the vehicle as well as the vehicle – with or without consent – although the police officer will always indicate that they had consent
§ If consent is adamantly opposed by the occupants, the police officer will report, under oath, that the contraband was in plain view
· To conceal an unlawful search that does not involve a vehicle, police officers have been taught to report and testify that they saw a bulge in the person’s pocket or saw drugs and money changing hands
· To justify unlawfully entering a residence where officers believe drugs or cash can be found, cops commit felony perjury by claiming that they had information from an unidentified civilian informant
++++++++++++++
I was personally accused in a case where a DA's office investigator committed perjury.
Wake up, get your head out of the sand. It is an epidemic.
By the way, I'm not a cop hater. I used to be police officer. I personally saw other officers lie. I believe there are some honest good officers out there but I'm afraid they are outnumbered by the dishonest ones.
Here are the links I found in just a few minutes on the internet. I'll spend a few more minutes and post more. I'm sure if i wanted to stay up all night I could post links all night. Do you still believe it is not an epidemic.
Of course, it's not jsut the police. There is an epidemic of dishonesty in our society in general. But that's another subject that would take much too long to discuss.
http://www.prisoners.com/testilie.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6827494/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6827494/
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07EFDD1030F931A35756C0A962958260
http://bennettandbennett.com/blog/2008/08/everyday-incidents.html
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php??fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68500
http://nypdconfidential.com/columns/1998/980629.html
http://nypdconfidential.com/columns/1998/980629.html
http://www.hemp.net/~darral/copslie.html
http://www.teamliberty.net/id224.html
Here are a few more articles. I'm tired and going to bed. Just do a search for cops and perjury and you can probably read all night and into tomorrow if you want.
ReplyDeleteOf course I know that some people are going to cling to their illusion that the cops are usually the good guys. If your one of those I just hope you never find yourself the target of an unjust prosecution. It happens all to frequently. Like I said before, it's really only a part of the larger epidemic of dishonesty in our society. Maybe there was a time when the good guys wore the white hats but today you can't tell the good from the bad just based on the hats.
http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/MCNAM2.HTM
http://www.copsandhookers.com/
http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/rampart/051200slapd.html
http://www.discourse.net/archives/2004/01/a_heartwarming_story_of_crooked_violent_cops_and_the_strangely_unnecessary_perjury_that_got_them_off_charges_for_burning_and_beating_a_frequent_felon.html
http://www.fiu.edu/~terrywc/perjury.htm
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/04/16/Chicago_cops_lied_on_DUI_busts_suit_says/UPI-48201208364393/
One more thing: I just wanted to highlight this Dershowitz quote because it is very, very true.
ReplyDelete"Police perjury in criminal cases is so pervasive that “hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every year testifying about drug arrests” alone"
By the way, can you smell the sh++ now or are you still holding your nose and closing your eyes?
Sorry, just one more good Dershowitz quote that should be highlighted:
ReplyDelete"Police perjury is not anecdotal. Many commission reports prove rampant abuses in police departments throughout the United States"
Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks there's an epidemic
Just couldn't resist one more:
ReplyDelete"According to the Mollen Commission[2] the practice of police falsification is so common that it has spawned its own word – testilying"
Harris County Narc task Force once had a deputy on steroids, they tried to cover it up. He got sent to prison by the judge.
ReplyDeleteFinally someone who is with me. They are the ones who also should be examine since many times their behavior and actions reveal a different state of mind. Good post!!
ReplyDeleteif you ever run a surprise test to them all will result positive. lol.
ReplyDelete