Some Gainesville Police squad cars are doing more than patrolling for crime this month.
Through the Cops for a Cure campaign, residents can donate money to paint lettering on GPD squad cars pink to coincide with the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The donations will go to Stop Children’s Cancer, which mainly benefits pediatric clinical trials at UF, said Julie Hill, executive director.
Donors can specify to contribute their money to decal a car, which is painted at a discounted rate by Signs by Tomorrow.
So far, 12 cars have been sponsored, and more are in the works, Hill said.
“It’s pretty exciting, really,” she said. “It’s a real community effort.”
GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said the show of support is in line with the department’s mission.
“Our job is to protect and serve, and this is a little bit of that serving,” he said
The idea was sparked when Officer Amanda Cummings saw the Marion County Sheriff’s Office running a similar awareness campaign.
She said implementing the campaign is a positive way to connect with the community.
“Yeah we’re cops, yeah we carry around guns and badges,” she said, “but we’re people too. When we go home at night, we’re affected by the same things other people are.”
Cummings’ car was one of the first painted for the campaign.
She said in the first few hours, people were stopping her and asking to take pictures with the car.
“No matter where you are in life, everyone’s been affected by cancer, so it’s something we can all get behind,” she said.
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 10/8/2013 under the headline "‘Police’ goes pink on some GPD cars"
Gainesville Police has partnered with Stop Children’s Cancer and added pink graphics to police vehicles to raise awareness and funds to help find a cure for cancer.
