Crystal Police Grow Beards for “Movember”
Movember is allowing some members of the Crystal Police Department to do something they normally can’t do. Department policy says officers can grow mustaches, but beards aren’t allowed. That’s been suspended for the month as the department recognizes the Movember movement.
Movember started in 2003 when 30 “Mo Bros” in Australia decided to bring the mustache back into fashion. The response was good enough that by the next year, they started raising money to be donated to Australia’s Prostate Cancer Foundation. Fast forward to today, and the Movember movement has spread around the world, with more than 5 million having participated. The annual event raises money and awareness for men’s health issues such as prostate cancer and suicide prevention. It encourages people to grow beards as a symbol of the movement.
Breaking uniform policy is fun, but it does have its drawbacks. “It’s kind of itchy,” says beard-sporting Sgt. Justin Tourville of his Movember whiskers. “Especially the longer it gets, the more itch it gets. And I’m not used to wearing it, especially in uniform.”
Nonetheless, as as symbol of Movember it’s important to Tourville, so he soldiers on. “Suicide rates for people in uniform, especially law enforcement, is up right now,” he says. “So that kind of hits home with us, where we take extra pride in doing this every year.”
This is the Crystal Police Department’s second year of participation in Movember. Money raised will go toward the Crystal Crime Prevention Fund and the Movember Foundation.
