University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA Champ Still Running, but After Bad Guys Now
8/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Eden Prairie native Adam Steele excelled on the track during his career as a Golden Gopher. He won the 2003 NCAA outdoor title in the 400-meter dash as a junior. After his junior season, Steele and teammate Mitch Potter competed for gold and silver medal 4x400-meter relay teams at the World Championships and the Pan American Games, respectively. Over his Gopher career, Steele was a nine-time All-American and eight-time Big Ten champion.
Steele continued to run after his college eligibility was exhausted, training professionally in the 400 meters, and later the 800 meters. Hampered by Achilles tendon injuries, he retired from competition in 2008. By then, Steele had moved to Eugene, Oregon. He had also decided on the next career he wanted to pursue.
With years of track experience and a Masters degree in sport management (earned in 2006), Steele considered a career in coaching. But he decided against it and chose a career that had interested him for a long time: law enforcement. In high school, he had learned more about it in a class and even attended a youth police academy. At the University of Minnesota he chose a major in sociology with an emphasis on law, crime, and deviance.
Steele’s endeavor to actually become an officer started well before his retirement from running. He applied to the Police Academy in October 2007. Physical exams, drug tests, and extensive background checks ensued in the following months.
“It started dragging on and on,” Steele said of the process.
The Eugene Police Department hired him in August of 2008. The next step was a four-month session at the police academy. Steele and his fellow recruits stayed in dorms during their training. Steele said the atmosphere and structure of the academy was formal and resembled military training.
“We all looked the same; we had uniforms on; they broke us down,” he said.
The recruits would have physical training—made easier for Steele by his track background—at 6:30 am before class. They spent a month learning the laws they would need to apply in the field. Then they started getting practical experience. They learned to use firearms and spent hours practicing at the range. Further training taught recruits the “use of force continuum” — when to use force, and how much.
Training exercises also included a mock village in which recruits were dispatched to handle scenarios acted out by community members. Steele said this helped ingrain the idea that officers always need to be alert—seemingly harmless details can end up being threats.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the academy was the driving course. Recruits practiced driving at high speeds and doing maneuvers they might need to use in a chase. On regular roads, officers are supposed to drive no faster than about 70 percent speed, but on the training course, recruits needed to reach maximum speed so they knew where to subtract from.
“It was pretty cool. Their goal was to push us to 100 percent of our limit,” Steele said.
One of the most difficult parts of training for Steele was “learning the criminal mind.” He wasn’t used to the way criminals operated. After going through the academy, riding along with veteran officers for six months, and now having been on the force for over a year, he has gained better understanding.
Currently, Steele works from 5 pm to 3 am four days a week, mostly on the University of Oregon campus. He will likely work different areas and different shifts, but for now he likes his schedule—he gets enough sleep, gets three days off, and likes working bar closing time when he can stop drunk drivers.
Steele says the most rewarding part of his job is making connections with people, especially young people who have been in trouble with the law, because he might have a chance to help them turn their lives around. He also values chances to see support for law enforcement. He recently volunteered at National Night Out. These aspects of work as an officer help Steele keep a positive outlook.
“We see a lot of bad things on a regular basis and we don’t get to see a lot of positive things,” he said.
Working away from sports has given Steele new perspective on his track career. He said that “at the time I was disappointed in the way my career ended.” But he said that when people in the police department took an interest in his experience competing internationally, he realized that he still had a rewarding track career despite not making the Olympic team.
Steele has fond memories of his Gopher career as well as his professional career. He said being in Eugene made him miss seeing maroon and gold everywhere, so he decorates his home with Gopher gear. Steele said that the people—everyone from coaches to trainers to his 4x400 relay teammates—were the best part about the U. He appreciates “how nice these people are and how much they took care of me.”
Although his academics at the U are more directly related to his career as an officer, Steele’s athletic background has its benefits, too. He recalls an incident in which he saw a robbery suspect running away. Steele ran and cut him off, then caught him about 50 meters after he changed directions. Officers are sometimes encouraged not to pursue suspects on foot, but there are situations when this is the best course of action. For someone with Steele’s speed, it’s even better. Running is no longer his job, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t enjoy running as part of his new job.
“Any chance I get, I like to do it,” Steele said.
Written by Justine Buerkle, Minnesota Athletic Communications Student Assistant
