By Matt Kyle | Staff Writer
Starting Friday, Waco PD officers will wear a pink police patch on their uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The patches come from the Pink Patch Project, a public awareness campaign that partners with police, sheriff, fire, EMS and federal departments across the world.
Waco PD spokesperson Cierra Shipley said the patches are intended to raise awareness about breast cancer and to show support to those who are currently fighting breast cancer or have battled it in the past.
“We wanted to use these patches as a way to let those who have suffered from breast cancer — who have fought breast cancer, who have been personally affected by it — we just wanted to let them know that we stand with them and we’re fighting with them,” Shipley said.
This will be the first year Waco PD will be participating in the Pink Patch Project. Shipley said the department decided to wear the patches when it realized there were two breast cancer survivors within the department.
“To have two individuals working within our department who have been persons directly related to breast cancer says a lot to the fact that the statistics are right,” Shipley said. “One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer. That just goes to show that having two in our department says a lot.”
Sara Slider, a police records representative with Waco PD and a breast cancer survivor, said she is excited for the patches because they are an innovative way to raise awareness. She said “no words can describe” how much the support of her co-workers means to her.
“It is a long journey to have to endure, but to have support from your employers, your co-workers and so many officers that I haven’t even met yet, it’s just more than I could ever put in words,” Slider said.
Slider said she hopes the patches increase awareness about the importance of early detection.
“We hope to raise public awareness about the importance of early detection because I was so adamant about self-breast exams,” Slider said. “I was 33 when I was diagnosed. I wasn’t even going to have my first mammogram until 35. I wouldn’t have made it until 35.”
Slider said early detection is important because when a cancerous tumor is found at stage one, there is a 98% survival rate after five years. She also said men and women alike should be adamant about self-examinations because not only women can be diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Be aware of your body and do your self-breast exam — man or woman, no matter what age — because breast cancer does not care,” Slider said. “It did not care that I was 33 and had a 4-year-old, an 8-year-old, a career and a husband. It did not care. It doesn’t care if you’re black or white. It doesn’t care how much money you have in the bank account. Mine was genetic. There’s nothing I could have done health-wise.”
Baylor assistant police Chief Don Rodman said in mid-October that BUPD will take part in the “Beard It Up and Color for the Cure Campaigns.” Male officers can grow out their beards and female officers can paint their nails and will make donations to a children’s cancer research fund.
Patches can be purchased from the Pink Patch Project’s website. Proceeds from the sale of patches are donated to cancer research.
Since it is the first year Waco PD is participating in the Pink Patch Project, Waco PD patches are not available for purchase yet. Shipley said the department is currently working on making Waco PD patches available for purchase.
