The Ridgefield Police Department once again joins the international Pink Patch Project this October, marking its eighth year of participation in the breast cancer awareness campaign.
Officers will wear bright pink versions of the department’s shoulder patch throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The patches are also available for purchase by the public for $10, with proceeds benefiting the Pink Lemonade Project. This Vancouver-based nonprofit provides support, education, and resources for those impacted by breast cancer.
This year’s design holds special meaning for Chief Cathy Doriot, as for the first time, an officer stepped up to design the patch. Officer Kaylin Debiak, who joined the department in 2022, designed the 2025 edition. The limited patch features Ridgefield’s sandhill crane soaring above a blue river, walking trail, evergreen trees, and mountains beneath a pink sky.
“The pink patch has always meant a lot to me, raising awareness for breast cancer,” Debiak said. “I have survivors in my family, and known people who are fighting currently, and people who we've also lost. So I’ve known one in, in every stage, and I'm just happy and grateful to be able to support it and create some sort of impact.”
Debiak said the environment and landscape of Ridgefield shaped her inspiration for the design.
“I wanted to design something that really felt like Ridgefield to me, and the pink sky and the pink ribbon are the universal signs of breast cancer. So it honors and brings awareness to the ongoing fight for the cure,” she said.
Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed inside the department.
“She really nailed it, and it's beautiful,” Ridgefield Police Chief Cathy Doriot said. “I'm very proud of her, the design she came up with, and the reasoning behind what she chose to put in the design, and I'm super excited to see people's reactions to it.”
For Doriot, who has designed most of the patches in past years, the cause is deeply personal. Her mother battled breast cancer twice before passing away from the disease.
“It's always gonna be very near and dear to my heart,” Doriot said. “What was important to me this year was to get more involvement from my department because at some point I'm gonna be gone, and so hopefully there is somebody behind me in this agency that is gonna take on the cause, that's gonna step up like Officer Debiak did this year.”
Debiak, who said she would take the opportunity to design future patches, described the process as both lengthy and rewarding.
“I think seeing my design kind of come to life was my favorite part,” she said. “One of our records ladies who works at our front desk is also a survivor of breast cancer, and she was kind of the liaison between, you know, me and the graphic designer … It was a new excitement then when we opened up the boxes and actually saw it … So I think that was my favorite part.”
Beyond the patches, Ridgefield’s effort includes pink ribbon magnets on patrol cars, free awareness stickers distributed by officers, and City staff wearing pink each Wednesday in October.
“There are very few people anymore that can say that their life hasn't been in some way impacted by breast cancer, either somebody they know, a family member, or somebody they love or care about,” Doriot said. “And so just knowing that people aren't fighting that fight alone, that there are people that support them, that we as a community want to rally around them, that we as a police department, we wanna bring attention to the fight against breast cancer, and we want them to know they're not alone.”
Pink patches are available for purchase at the Ridgefield Police Department (101 Mill Street Ste. 110), City Hall (230 Pioneer Street), and local businesses, including Seasons Coffee, Ridgefield Floral, Lava Java, Brewed Awakenings, BevRidge Public, and Taps Beer Reserve. Only 300 patches are available.
