Steve Warneke

Steve honorably retired after over 15 years with the Denver Police Department. During that time, he was a patrol officer, neighborhood police officer, field training officer, financial crimes detective, sergeant, certified hostage negotiator, internal affairs investigator, and a supervisor in the media relations department. Steve has won two Emmy Awards and four Edward R Murrow Awards for his outstanding work with the Denver Police Department's media relations team. He was also Denver's first openly gay radio talk show host on the city's biggest AM station. After publishing his award-winning memoir "From Boy To Blue: Becoming One of America's Finest", Steve conducted a year long research study of over 1,000 police officers on the symptoms of what he has called "Law Enforcement Distress Syndrome". Having recently presented his research to LAPD officers at the LAPPL Delegates Conference, the response has been overwhelming- LEDS is more prevalent and widespread among law enforcement than orignially anticipated. With over 38% of officers suffering from depression and the suicide rate among officers outnumbering line of duty deaths for the third year in a row, Steve is now committed to raising awareness on mental health issues and svaing the lives of those who save us.