McGruff All Over Miami

McGruff delighted scores of children and teens as he made his rounds in Miami-Dade, FL, earlier this summer. He emphasized stranger danger.

By Jeff Broderson, NCPC Staff

Much to the delight of scores of young fans, McGruff the Crime Dog had a busy June and July in Miami.

On June 25, together with the Youth Crime Watch program of Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, he greeted young members of the Miami-Dade County Refugee Youth Program summer camp at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah. Then, Youth Crime Watch coordinators and McGruff taught the youngest members about stranger danger while the teens learned about reporting crimes and bullying prevention. The children and teens were elated and asked if McGruff could come back next year!

Later that week, McGruff participated in two Miami-Dade County commissioners’ events. Commissioner Audrey Edmonson held a Health and Information Fair in Northside Miami-Dade. Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County participated by handing out crime prevention materials at its booth and by having McGruff pass out McGruff-themed coloring books, activity booklets, brochures, and bookmarks to parents and children. But McGruff’s day wasn’t done; shortly after Commissioner Edmonson’s event, McGruff and the Citizens Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County crew traveled to West Miami-Dade to take part in Commissioner Joe Martinez’s Health and Safety Expo. There, the children and adults made a beeline for McGruff as he handed out McGruff materials about safety. McGruff also demonstrated some stranger danger skills with the aid of Citizens’ Crime Watch coordinators.

Even then, McGruff didn’t take a break. In early July, he worked again with the Youth Crime Watch program of Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County, teaching children about stranger danger at Miami-Dade’s Lemon City Library for the fifth year in a row. The presentation was part of the library’s annual summer reading program. The kids loved the safety-themed McGruff coloring books and bookmarks they got almost as much as the stranger danger role-playing part of the program. What child wouldn’t want to play alongside McGruff, especially if they learned something while they were at it!