Heads of law enforcement in Enfield and Weldon have done away with their facial hair policies for the month of November.
Enfield and Weldon are allowing facial hair as part of No-Shave November as a way to raise money for cancer research.
Traditionally, uniformed officers are only allowed to have neatly trimmed mustaches, but since the first of the month they have been growing beards for the cause.
“It’s a way to raise awareness for cancer research,” Enfield police Chief Tyree Davis, whose officers have joined in the cause, said in a recent interview.
Enfield Captain Dreher Bozard said the cause is personal. “Several officers have dealt it with it through their families.”
Davis lost his father to cancer when he was 12 and there was a rarely a time the police chief remembers he wasn’t sick. “When I was in the fourth grade they told us he had six months to live. By the time the doctors caught it, it was in the final stages.”
Davis said cancer respects no one. “Cancer doesn’t see race, creed, political affiliation, old or young, financial or economic status.”
Currently Enfield has raised $595 and Davis wants to see that reach $5,000 but added, “We are grateful for any number we that reach. Whatever we raise is another dollar toward cancer research.”
For Weldon Deputy Chief James Avens, the beards are a way to get a conversation started. “I lost an uncle to prostate cancer. I lost two uncles, an aunt and grandmother in 2012. I lost my brother-in-law this year. To me, it’s personal. We’re trying to raise awareness.”
Avens said his church, Faithful Band Missionary Baptist in Pleasant Hill, has already stepped up, giving $100 for the cause and officers are donating a dollar a day, putting Weldon almost at $300.