CROTHERSVILLE
Whether or not they have a personal connection to cancer, they aren’t afraid to wear pink.
The four full-time officers with the Crothersville Police Department are wearing pink flex badges this month in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Chief Matt Browning and Assistant Chief Chris Cooper have family members who died from different types of cancer, while Officer John Amis had an uncle die from a brain tumor, and Officer Alan Jones has been fortunate to not have any family members go through cancer.
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No matter their circumstance, the officers are proud to sport pink this month.
"It’s just a show of support. We’re people. We care. … This is one way to show it," Browning said.
"It just shows that we’re normal people just like everybody else," Cooper said. "This at least shows the rest of the community that we’re not afraid to wear pink in support of a good cause."
Just recently, a close friend of the officers found out his wife has breast cancer, and they know others who are battling the disease.
"Now that we actually did it, it shows that we support them, as well, because they are close friends to a lot of us," Cooper said of wearing the pink badges.
"When it was initially brought up, I was aware there were a few people in town that had that, and I feel like it’s a growing issue. More people all the time are getting some form of cancer," Jones said. "To support our community and the people in it, I feel like we should (wear the badges). It was a great idea."
Browning said he first saw the pink badges last year, but by that time, it was too late to order them.
This year, while looking at uniforms on a website, he saw the pink badges again.
"I actually got them ordered on the last day that you could order them," he said. "You can order them, and a portion of the proceeds goes toward breast cancer research and treatment."
The Austin Police Department has bought the pink badges in recent years, and officers with the Brownstown Police Department have pink ribbons on their cars this month.
The Crothersville officers are glad to bring awareness to cancer, too.
Browning said his grandfather died of pancreatic cancer several years ago.
"I know it was rough on him," he said. "He got to the point where he was unrecognizable. It’s not the grandpa you remember, that’s for sure. I know he got diagnosed, started doing some treatments and then was bedridden and it was over."
That was hard for Browning to see because his grandfather inspired him to become a firefighter and police officer.
"He’s the one that got me into firefighting," he said. "I used to stay with him in Young America. I was staying in the next room from his bedroom, and I would hear his pager go off in the middle of the night, and I’d watch him out the window in his little pickup truck and a blue light taking off. It was like, ‘I’m going to do that one day,’ and here I am doing all of it."
His grandfather going from firefighting to being bedridden because of cancer was rough for Browning.
"You don’t expect it just because he was always up moving around," he said. "Then all of a sudden, nothing. He can’t do anything. You’ve got to take care of him."
Cooper said his grandpa died of lung cancer about 20 years ago.
"I know it was just kind of one day, he was there, and the next day, he wasn’t," he said.
Seeing him go through that was hard, Cooper said.
"He was always around, and he was the guy that was there if you needed him for anything, and he did so much around town. He was actually on the fire department here in town," he said. "(Cancer) all came about, and he started getting bedridden and stayed in the hospital for months on end and one day just ended up passing away."
Amis doesn’t have any family members who have gone through cancer, but he had an uncle die of a brain tumor.
"He ended up going through chemo the last year of his life," he said. "Then we decided not to continue because he was just getting worse, and it was causing him to be sick."
With all of these issues affecting the officers, wearing the pink badges means a lot to them.
People around town have taken notice of the badges.
"It’s really nice to see their expression after they see and they look at your badge and they are like, ‘That’s awesome. That’s great,’" Browning said.
"Everybody’s like, ‘Oh wow! We like those. Those are nice. That’s cool. Thank you guys for doing that,’" Cooper said.
The officers didn’t get the badges for recognition, but they agreed it’s nice to hear people’s positive feedback.
"It makes you feel good that people actually see it, they recognize why we do it, why we have them on, that we do support treatments," Browning said.
"It just shows that we care," Amis said. "It’s not just breast cancer. It’s all kinds of cancer. Cancer awareness is important. It just shows that it’s important that research, maybe we can find something that will change somebody’s life."
Even though Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends soon, the officers can wear the badges any other time of the year. Each time they do, they will do it with pride.