McGruff Helps Kids Have Halloween Fun—and Stay Safe!

Police departments across the country use McGruff the Crime Dog to spread the message of Halloween safety to kids in their jurisdiction.

Throughout the nation, kids had a ghoulishly good time at Halloween, decking themselves out in costumes and going door-to-door trick or treating. Halloween is a fun holiday, but it can also be dangerous, so every year police departments across the country use McGruff the Crime Dog to spread the message of Halloween safety to kids in their jurisdiction. This year, McGruff spent some time with the children of the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department’s 5th District. At the district’s Halloween party, McGruff gave out reflective Halloween bags and McGruff’s Surprise Party comic books to the more than 100 excited children who attended the event. The kids also got candy, met their local police officers, and greeted McGruff. In Miami, FL, Joel Mesa, of the Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County, spent Halloween at the Dadeland Mall giving kids useful crime prevention information and trinkets to kids who were trick or treating through the mall. Other cities, including Sarasota, FL, Bakersfield, CA, Youngstown, OH, and Boston, MA, had Halloween gatherings for kids that featured visits from McGruff, so he could remind them to stay safe from crime, never trick or treat alone, never go into a stranger’s house, and be aware of their surroundings while going door-to-door. —Jeff Broderson