Officers donating to the department’s fundraiser for the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia in Rome will be given a pass on the Polk County Police Department’s policy regarding facial hair. Capt. Randy Turner of the PCPD said the fundraiser is culminating on April 14 when another funraising event, Jogging for Justice, is planned.
Jogging for Justice is a 5K race and health walk in Rome. The race will start at 8 a.m. with restration at 7 a.m.
Kim Davis, director of the Sexual Assault Center, said there sare just a few of the events planned for April. April is designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Turner said the idea of allowing donations for facial hair came to him one day when he went to a law enforcement meeting in Rome.
“Some of the guys were talking about our policy,” Turner said. “I know we wouldn’t change our policy, but I though we could do it for a month as a fundraiser.”
Officers must donate $25 in order to be exempted from the rules.
Turner said the fundraiser is encouraging officers to raise money in other ways for the center. There’s another promotion in the office where the officer who raised the most money will get a T-shirt and gift card, he said.
Davis said the SAC has serviced more than 700 clients with 44 percent of those clients between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. While the group started out to help women, Davis said its clients also now include boys and men.
Davis said the center has formally been around since 1998 but has roots that date back to 1992 when a task force called the Rome Rape Response formed to try to find a way to provide necessary services to those surviving a sexual assault.
They started with a 24-hour crisis line, then formed the Women’s Information Network. That organization applied for grant money and the money was used to create a separate, independent, non-profit agency which later became the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia.
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