Mountain Brook police to cheer cancer patients with No-Shave November proceeds

Police officers are typically not allowed to grow extensive facial hair.

The Mountain Brook Police Department, for example, has appearance policies that prevent officers from going unshaven except for small, neatly groomed mustaches, according to Police Chief Ted Cook. 

But Cook and the MBPD will put those restrictions aside for the fourth year in a row when the department again takes part in the national No-Shave November initiative, which raises money to fight cancer. Around 30 officers participate each year and donate the money they would normally spend on razors and other grooming products.

“It’s fun for the officers,” Cook said. “It’s a morale booster for everyone and something the officers look forward to each year now.” And for the second year in a row, the MBPD has its own local angle for No-Shave November.

The MBPD will partner with Mountain Brook residents and use No-Shave proceeds for its own Stocking Stuffer project.

As they did in 2017, officers will collect needed items, stuff them into stockings and deliver the stockings to adults being treated at the Bruno’s Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital, according to Cook.

“We get to share a little joy and happiness with families during a time of terrible distress,” Cook said.

In 2015 and 2016, MBPD donations were made through the official No-Shave November website.

The No-Shave November nonprofit, begun in 2008, has raised millions of dollars for such organizations as the American Cancer Society and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For more information, contact the MBPD at 879-0486.