How It All Began

In the late 1970s, most folks felt there was nothing anyone could really do about crime. But by now, people know that becoming active in the neighborhood and community can help prevent crime. Twenty-five years of McGruff and the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign (NCCPC) have made a big difference.

Back in the late 1970s, a group of concerned citizens believed that citizens, working individually and collectively, could work with police to prevent crime. This group, consisting of government policymakers, law enforcement leaders, business people, labor leaders, and philanthropists, banded together in the name of crime prevention.

This group also understood the power of the media in spurring the public to act. In 1977, FBI Director Clarence Kelly and his assistant, John Coleman went to The Advertising Council, Inc., with a proposal for a crime prevention public service advertising campaign. Although the Ad Council turned the request down, the proposal sparked the interest of Leo Perlis, director of the AFL-CIO community service division and a member of the Ad Council's public policy committee. Perlis knew Coleman and had some contacts at the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), the precursor of the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. Perlis also knew Carl M. Loeb, Jr., a businessman, civic activist, and philanthropist.

In late 1977, LEAA, the National Council of Crime and Delinquency, the FBI, and the AFL-CIO formed a small planning group that included the National Sheriffs' Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.  Two advisory boards were formed that included the 19 organizations that became the original Crime Prevention Coalition of America.

In 1978, the group submitted a proposal to LEAA outlining a public service advertising campaign that did not emphasize fear but instead sent the positive, upbeat message that crime needn't be a fact of life, that citizens could take simple actions to reduce crime risks. The ads called for individual and community action and the plan included both federal funding and private funds. LEAA approved the funding and Carl Loeb provided the initial matching funds.  The Ad Council accepted the campaign and gave the assignment to the advertising agency, Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (now Saatchi & Saatchi).  After conducting focus groups and speaking to residents of high-crime areas, crime prevention practitioners, and campaign founders, the creative team decided the campaign would need a unifying symbol and the ad agency created McGruff and the slogan Take A Bite Out Of Crime.

The founders named their effort the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign, and in November 1979 prepared themselves to introduce the new character to the public. The first three public service ads starred the as yet unnamed dog, and a "Name the Dog" contest was announced in early 1980. A crime prevention officer from the New Orleans Police Department won the contest, and the public embraced McGruff the Crime Dog.

McGruff's early ads encouraged individuals to take common sense steps to ensure home and personal safety to reduce crime. In 1982, the campaign founders, under the leadership of Mr. Loeb, formed the National Crime Prevention Council to coordinate the McGruff campaign and promote crime prevention throughout the country. By the mid-1980s McGruff was encouraging individuals to join Neighborhood Watch and clean up streets and parks. Other messages focused on teen victimization, drug abuse prevention, violence prevention, and more. McGruff also began to turn his attention to children and asked adults to take action to prevent their children from becoming victims of violence.

In 1993, Scruff®, McGruff's nephew, was introduced to help teach children crime, drug, and violence prevention behaviors.  Kids related to Scruff and relied on his trustworthy Uncle McGruff to help teach them how to do the safe thing and get out of potentially dangerous situations.  This advertising sparked the beginning of a campaign that encouraged children to write for a free comic-activity book. That same year, a new Spanish-language campaign was introduced for children and adults. 

During the mid-1990s, the campaign addressed the effects of gun-related violence on children. In the new millennium the campaign is tackling new issues in crime prevention, including community preparedness. Currently the NCCPC addresses bullying, teen volunteering, and Internet safety. Created pro bono by Saatchi & Saatchi, one television PSA demonstrates the actions a child can take when he or she witnesses someone being bullied. McGruff is featured in the PSA giving advice on how to stop the bullying situation. In addition, NCPC partnered with the ABC Television Network to create two more PSAs to address bullying, one speaking to girls and the other to parents. The partnership is expected to yield more than $250,000 in donated media time due to ABC's historically strong support for children's media messages.

NCPC's current teen public service advertising campaign, "Volunteering: Do What You Like To Do," attempts to increase volunteering among teenagers to help build safer and stronger communities and, ultimately, a stronger nation. Television and radio PSAs show ways in which teens can transform an activity or interest they already enjoy and use it to help others in their community.

Another PSA featuring Ed McMahon going door-to-door in an effort to involve people in Neighborhood Watch also encourage individuals to get involved in making their community safer. Viewers were encouraged to visit www.weprevent.org or to call 800-WE-PREVENT to obtain the United for a Stronger America Citizens' Preparedness Guide, the first nationally available prevention and preparedness document against terrorism. The guide was built around prevention skills and strategies learned in the campaign's work in communicating about public safety. 

McGruff, with the help of the Plowshare Group, recorded new Internet safety radio PSAs to promote parental awareness of the dangers that children face on the Internet.  The radio spots join print PSAs, camera-ready articles, and website information that encourage parents to be their child's "safety net" by giving them suggestions of things to look out for and ways to prevent problems.

McGruff has certainly come a long way and will continue fighting crime in this new century.