Back in 2013, the Seal Beach Police Department in Southern California started a tradition of wearing pink patches on their uniforms for the month of October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In 2015, the Irwindale Police Department, also in Southern California, began to sell their pink patches to members of the community, giving a chance for individuals to help raise money for breast cancer treatment, raising over $20,000 that first year.
In the years since Irwindale started selling pink patches, the practice has only grown, spreading first throughout Los Angeles County and then throughout the country. According to the Pink Patch Project, with over 390 police departments participating, the campaign has raised over $1 million through the sale of over 900,000 patches.
The Camp Verde Marshal’s Office is one of 12 departments throughout the state of Arizona participating, following up its sales last year by again selling patches for $10 throughout the month of October to benefit the Breast Care Center at Yavapai Regional
Medical Center in Prescott.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S. with 1 in 8 women having a lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer,” the CVMO wrote in a press release. “Over 250,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women each year, and more than 2,500 cases in men. However, it is a disease that can be effectively treated with surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy.”
The CVMO began selling patches at the National Night Out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. For the rest of the month, the patches will be purchasable in person at the Marshal’s Office at 646 S. 1st St., or via mail by sending a check to Camp Verde Marshal’s Office, Attn: Pink Patch, 646 S. 1st Street, Camp Verde, AZ 86322. The CVMO requests that checks are sent with stamped, self-addressed return envelopes in order to allow the full donation to go to the YRMC.
