Alachua Police Department's pink patrol

Officer Kwandra Zeigler talks to detective Jessie Sandusky in front of the city's breast cancer awareness cruiser. Sandusky unveiled the vehicle this week at a city commission meeting.

ALACHUA – Detective Jesse Sandusky of the Alachua Police Department (APD) had a surprise for the people at the city commission meeting on Monday night.

Sandusky went to the city commission on Monday, Oct. 7 to give a presentation on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. He asked everybody gathered in the commission chamber to go outside to the front of City Hall to unveil the APD’s newest sign of support for breast cancer awareness.

Outside the building, a police car rolled off a truck, sporting a black and pink color scheme. On the back, there was the slogan ‘breast cancer awareness.”

Onlookers walked around and took photos, while Commissioner Shirley Brown sat inside the car.

There is a three percent chance that breast cancer will be the cause of a woman’s death, Sandusky said.

“It’s not about driving a cool car around,” Sandusky said, “the main focus is to raise awareness in our community about breast cancer.

The disease affects everybody in the community, he said. People in the APD itself have been affected, either directly or indirectly through friends or family, he added.

Police agencies all over the country, including the Gainesville Police Department, have painted cars pink to raise awareness, which is where he said he got the idea.

“It’s nice to join with other agencies in our county that are promoting the cause,” Sandusky said. “It’s such an important issue. It needs to be brought to everyone’s attention.”

Sandusky hopes the message will be received clearly by the public, and will encourage women to get exams and promote early detection.

He created some designs and had a general idea of what the car would look like, but he was still impressed when he saw it in person.

“When I actually first saw it in person, there was kind of a ‘wow factor,’” he said.

The other employees at the Alachua Police Department were proud when they first saw the car, Sandusky said.

“They’re excited about the message,” he said.

The cost of decorating the car was under $500, Sandusky said. It was done by Showcase Advertising in Starke.

The decals are removable, Sandusky said, so the car could go back to normal whenever the department wants. It will probably remain until the end of the year.

The car isn’t just going to be around for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sandusky said. It will be with the APD for an extended period of time.

Mayor Gib Coerper was at City Hall when the car was unveiled.

Going into the meeting, he only knew that he would have to walk outside to see ‘something cool,’ he said.

“’Wow’ was all I could say when I saw it,” he said.

“I really appreciate the effort the city has put in to progress cancer awareness,” he added. “I think it shows tremendous support for the women and the families that have to go through this.”

Breast cancer isn’t just something that affects Alachua or Gainesville, Mayor Coerper said. It’s a global problem.

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