North Liberty police to break department policy for a good cause

Starting Nov. 1, North Liberty police officers will have a short reprieve from the department’s strict no-beards-in-uniform policy. Participating officers will make donations to the 19th Annual Domestic Violence Intervention Program Holiday Toy Drive.
The department has a history of supporting the Domestic Violence Intervention Program’s toy drive; members of the department donate annually to the program’s toy drive, and officer Juan Santiago is in his 10th year of working with the DVIP and its toy drive.
“Forgoing our normal no-beards policy seemed like a good way to build awareness of the program and for the department to have some fun at the same time,” said Officer Chuck Tygart, who suggested the department’s participate in No Shave November.
Participants are asked to donate money to the DVIP’s toy drive, and keep their goatees until the City of North Liberty’s annual holiday potluck in December. Officers who shave prematurely are asked to make an additional donation to the drive.
While the department won’t forgo all shaving (participants are limited to a tidy quarter-inch goatee), they are encouraged to give each other’s facial hair nicknames (Chief Diane Venenga holds veto power). Residents are encouraged to compliment the officers’ facial hair and offer appropriate nicknames as well.