With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, KUAM a special five-part series — Think Pink. All this week, we’re sharing the stories of survivors and highlighting how our island community is showing support in the fight against breast cancer and to kick things off, the men and women in blue are going pink — the Guam Police Department joins the cause. 

GPD is taking its uniform pride — and turning it pink.  This month, officers islandwide are proudly wearing pink patches stitched onto their uniforms — a small gesture with a big message. Chief of Police Stephen Ignacio says the idea came about after attending a police chiefs conference in 2019 and was browsing the vendors set up.

"I came across a booth of this company made police patches and all he had was pink patches and the man said he made pink patches for multiple departments in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month," he said.

The chief says the effort is not only to raise awareness in the community but also to support those within the department — officers, staff, and their loved ones — who are breast cancer survivors, currently fighting the disease, or have lost someone to it. "We are going to be wearing our patches on our left shoulder, when people are driving they have their left shoulder out the window, they get to see the pink patch," the chief added.

And the show of support doesn’t stop at the uniform. One patrol unit now bears pink lettering — a moving symbol that carries the message of hope across our roadways. "I took it a little bit further, I had one of our new cars had pink letters--police. Our way of promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there are a lot of good causes out there I think cancer and breast cancer specifically - it's  a disease that has affected the Guam Police Department...we've had officers who have lost their wives to breast cancer, and  employees who have lost their lives to breast cancer," he said.

Meanwhile, at the Dededo Precinct, the color pink also plays another role — one interrogation room and even the jail cell are painted pink. While not part of the awareness campaign, the calming color is used to help de-escalate tension and promote peace during high-stress situations.

For GPD, it’s all about compassion in action — honoring survivors, remembering those lost, and reminding everyone that the fight against breast cancer is one we face together.