It may very well be the best looking law enforcement vehicle on the road today – and that’s the idea.
Drawing attention is the goal of the Centre Police Department’s “Breast Cancer Awareness” Cruiser, which began as the brainchild of Police Chief Kirk Blankenship:
Once the mayor was on board Chief Blankenship approached TMC Graphics & Signs where he spoke with owner Teddy Crawford about the project and he immediately agreed to help out; the Chief and a friend worked together to actually put the stripes on the vehicle:
The car, which is a fully functioning police cruiser, will be used not only in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month, but year ‘round to raise awareness about all the forms of cancer and the on-going need for research in the development of improved treatment – and eventually, hopefully, a cure.
As he mentioned in our interview, Chief Blankenship said this started out as a tribute to his mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer some three years ago and who by the way is thankfully doing well these days, and to his father who was taken from him by cancer when he was just seven years old. But he wants to point out that this is really for the community – it’s for everyone who has cancer and for anyone who has lost someone they love to cancer
He urges everyone to honor a loved one’s memory by making a donation to cancer research
For more information or to make arrangements to have that cruiser at an upcoming event simply contact the Centre Police Department at (256) 927-3661 or Centre City Hall at (256) 927-5152.
The Centre Police Department will conduct a “Citizen’s Police Academy” starting September 19th and running for eight weeks; those classes will be held each Tuesday evening between 6:00 – 8:00 at the Centre Police Department on West Main Street. Classes were originally going to be held Friday however due to High School Football Season they were changed to Tuesday.
This course is designed to bring Law Enforcement closer to the community that they serve, by giving citizens firsthand experience and a glimpse into law enforcement and their duties through classroom lectures and hands on exercises. Class size is limited and they will only be accepting 25 applicants for the first session.
If you have any questions, you can call the Centre Police Department Headquarters at (256) 927-3661 or contact Corporal Matt Peek at (256) 557-1448.