A police detective has been busted in an anabolic steroids distribution case in England. Merseyside Detective Paul David Fletcher was charged with eights counts of conspiring to supply anabolic steroids before the Liverpool magistrate’s court. Detective Fletcher’s co-defendants in the case include his 26-year old son as well as another police officer. Steroids are categorized as a Class C drug in the United Kingdom.
The news represents the second time in recent weeks that a police detective has been accused of dealing steroids. Across the pond in the United States, a Philadelphia police detective was busted by federal agents as the alleged ringleader of a nationwide anabolic steroids enterprise involving Sciroxx brand steroid products. Detective Keith Gidelson. Gidelson allegedly distributed anabolic steroids, human growth hormone (hGH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IFG-1) to fellow Philadelphia police officers, internet customers contacted via bodybuilding forums, and steroid dealers at local gyms and supplement stores.
Detective Fletcher was also charged with “misconduct in a public office” after allegedly leaking sensitive police information and providing details of police tactics and operations to a known criminal.
The news media generally characterizes the cops and steroids issue as being a threat to public safety due to the tenuous link between steroids and aggression. However, the steroids dealing cases in both the United States and England highlight what is perhaps the biggest problems with cops using steroids – it involves the potential for corruption and participation of law enforcement in illegal steroid distribution networks.
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