Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
The now annual event, explained MBPD Chief Ted Cook, not only allows officers a chance to forego their morning shave for a while, but also gives the department a chance to give back to the community.
Many officers with the Mountain Brook Police Department may look a little more scraggly than normal this month, as the department waives its clean-shaven requirement in honor of No Shave November.
The now annual event, explained MBPD Chief Ted Cook, not only allows officers a chance to forego their morning shave for a while, but also gives the department a chance to give back to the community.
“We like it in part because in law enforcement, particularly for our patrol guys with our appearance and demeanor policies, we don’t allow them to go unshaved,” Cook explained. “So it gives some of those officers an opportunity to grow some of that facial hair that they don’t normally get to grow.”
For the last few years, Cook said, the department has donated the proceeds raised through No Shave November to cancer research through the event’s online platform.
In order to skip the shave, officers donate and fundraise, with the efforts supporting research efforts locally and beyond.
“It’s an opportunity to participate in a couple of things that are fun, but it’s also very community enriching,” Cook said.
This year, however, Cook said the department saw an opportunity to direct those funds to a specific local project — the department’s act of delivering stockings to patients at Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s downtown.
Last year, the department raised funds by collecting a dollar or two here and there outside the police department.
But this year, Cook said, he and others had the idea to direct the No Shave November efforts to the drive, making it a more internal effort.
However, Cook said the community can still get involved by donating, or by dropping off any unwanted Halloween candy in the first few days of the month.
For more information, contact the department’s non-emergency number at 879-0486.
