That’s not a Mary Kay Cosmetics car you just sped past — Bellingham Police are going pink

Yes, that SUV sure is pretty in pink, but that’s not Molly Ringwald trying to pull you over after you “accidentally” rolled that stop sign. It’s not your local Mary Kay Cosmetics salesperson, either — the Bellingham Police Department has gone pink.

The department, which for the past few years has recognized Breast Cancer Awareness by allowing officers to wear pink badges and patches during the month of October, announced Wednesday, Oct. 5, in a news release that it also is unveiling a pink patrol car this year. Most Bellingham Police patrol vehicles are all blue.

Officers will drive the car on their shifts, “in an effort to help spread the word that early cancer screening saves lives and much more funding for all cancers is needed,” according to the release. The pink patrol car will include a QR code that can be scanned to allow for making a direct donation to the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center.

“BPD employees are proud to take part in helping increase awareness to get screened early and help raise funds, as cancer has affected many in the community as well as several BPD families,” the release reads.

One such family was Crime Scene Investigator Eric Kingery and his wife, Tiffany, who was told in February 2020 that she had been diagnosed with a very aggressive Stage 2 form of breast cancer at age 32, according to the release. Tiffany received three types of chemotherapy over a six-month period and had a bilateral mastectomy, and she currently has no current evidence of the disease.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 287,850 new breast cancer cases will be diagnosed each year in the U.S. and that more than 43,000 women and 500 men will die from the disease this year. Approximately one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lives, but the disease has a 99% survival rate if it is detected early.