By Mary O’KEEFE

Emergency responders are not typically known for how much they support the community and how much they support each other in times of need; however, GPD families know they have an extended family when they need that extra support. One example of camaraderie is Glendale Police Dept.’s support of GPD Officer Meg Badal spearheaded by Sgt. Jeff Davis. 

“It’s been tough but I’m going through it,” said Badal about her discovery and treatment for breast cancer. 

She has been an officer for 11 years, 10 in Glendale, and she loves being a police officer. 

“I am from Iran. I  came to the United States when I was 24 years old,” she said. 

She said that in Iran many police officers are corrupt and citizens are afraid of them. 

“It’s a different world [here] … My husband and I went to Chicago from Iran and on the very first day I was here in the United States I was at Starbucks and [police] officers came in the store,” she said “I stood up [because] I was scared.” 

But the officers came over to her and began to talk to her, even though at that time she didn’t speak English. She was with a family member who shared with the officers the story of where she was from. 

“And they were so nice,” she said. 

From that point she saw officers in a different light and wanted to be part of law enforcement. She always liked the idea of serving the community and this was the perfect way for her to do so. 

While she has been on the force she has been part of several investigations. She has honed her deduction skills and likes investigating burglaries and illegal drug sales. She has a talent in finding illegal guns and getting them off the streets. 

Davis said Badal has gotten a lot of illegal guns off the streets. He and his fellow officers held a surprise barbecue for Badal that turned into a surprise head- shaving party. 

“We had about two dozen [staff and officers],” Davis said of the party. 

“They had everything – balloons and the cancer [awareness wrapped police] car with lights on it. It was held in the briefing room, where we go every day before we go out,” Badal said of the barbecue.

Badal is still going through chemotherapy and has shaved her head. When she walked into the barbecue she didn’t expect to see that her fellow officers had also shaved their heads. 

But the officers went beyond that.

“I brought my clippers and set up a hair station,” Davis said.

And there were a lot of officers who sat in the chair. 

“Most of the officers there had shaved their heads,” she said. There were officers at the barbecue she did not even know, and a dispatcher was also there to have his head shaved. 

Badal took the clippers and began to shave heads. She has young children and her son did not like to see her with a shaved head. He would insist that she covered her head with a scarf.

“I always have a scarf on,” she said, “but when [her son] saw these officers with [shaved heads] he said ‘Mommy, everyone looks like you.’”

“She still has a [tough] road ahead of her but she is amazing. She just wants to come back to work,” said Davis.

Badal added the support has been overwhelming by the officers and the staff and Chief Manuel Cid. 
“The Chief called me after I got out of surgery,” she said. 

These outreach moments have meant so much to Badal and her family. 

“[The barbecue] was a very emotional day for me but it was a huge surprise,” she said. “Then at the end they gave me a card and everyone wrote something on it. It was just amazing.”

The support from GPD continues whenever she is at an event like at the recent Touch a Truck/GPD Open House event. 

Badal urges everyone to get their cancer examinations. 

“I just turned 40 and I found out I have breast cancer,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

In fact, just a few months before her diagnosis she had spoken with insurance representatives who advised everyone to get extra cancer insurance coverage. 

“I [thought], ‘I’m too young for cancer,’” she said. 

Two months later after her mammogram she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I found out pretty early,” Badal said of her diagnosis.

When asked what she wants to share with others about cancer, she said for people not to think that just because they are young it won’t happen to them. 

“Just do whatever you can to be healthy. Do your check-ups and be aware that things can happen … I didn’t ever think this was going to happen to me,” Badal said. “Just be positive and surround yourself with people [who] support you. Have hope and faith.”