By Mary O’KEEFE

For the third consecutive year, the Glendale Police Dept. has added its support for breast cancer research, awareness and treatment. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Glendale police and fire have gone pink in support.

GPD officers applied pink shoulder emblems to their uniforms, added pink to six motorcycles, air support and a Ford Explorer police unit. On Monday, the Ford Explorer revealed its pink wrap at Adventist Health Glendale. The wrap was done by Megaplex Window Tinting in Glendale and the pink ribbons and writing were done by Glendale Officer Teal Metts.

Metts has been a strong supporter of GPD support for all three years. His mother died last year from breast cancer. Chief Robert Castro has also been a supporter and insisted that the vehicle that was to be wrapped would be the nicest and newest car.

“We started with a car, then motorcycles and have grown with emblems [uniform patches] and now the helicopter,” Castro said.

“This is our third year and it is great that it has kept going,” Metts added. “It means a lot to me, to the whole program of awareness.”

The pink support has spread to the Glendale Fire Dept. this year with firefighters donning a pink emblem on their uniforms as well.

Metts said the Explorer does get noticed when driven, not just around town but also in other areas, like during a recent trip to the Loma Linda Medical Center where he traveled to speak to kids.

“Everyone loved it,” he said.

The wrapping of the Explorer in pink was sponsored by Adventist Health Glendale.

“Our goal is to bring as much awareness [as possible] during the month of October,” said Amy Fuller, clinical lead nurse at the Adventist Cancer Center.

During the month of October, Adventist Health Glendale will be offering free mammograms to the first 100 eligible women. To be an eligible candidate, women must be 40 years of age, have no breast abnormalities, including cancer, implants, or silicone injections, not be pregnant or breastfeeding and have had a previous mammogram more than one year ago from the time of the appointment. For those interested, contact Adventist Health at (818) 409-8192 for more information. The mammograms must be completed by Oct. 30.

According to the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 255,180 new cases of breast cancer this year. Breast cancer incidence and death rates generally increase with age and during 2010-14 the median age at the time of a breast cancer diagnosis was 62.

At age 40 is when women should start regular mammogram examinations unless they have a strong history of cancer in their family, said Fuller.

She added men are susceptible to breast cancer as well.

“Early detection is very important,” she said. “Screening is extremely important for prevention.”

Fuller said it was important for everyone to know their bodies and to get physical examinations. Missing one year of a regular mammogram can make a difference.

“Some forms of breast cancer can be very aggressive,” she said.

The emblem/patches worn by the GPD and GFD are also part of a fundraiser #PinkPatchProject.

Members of the community can purchase a limited edition patch for $10 at the front desk of the police station or by contacting the GPOA office at gpoa@pacbel.net. All proceeds from the sale of the patches will be donated to cancer research.

  Mary Okeefe