NCJ Number
87629
Journal
Public Relations Review Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (Spring 1982) Pages: 45-50
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign, sponsored by a variety of national, State, and local organizations, is intended to teach citizens how to reduce criminal opportunity and become involved in community crime prevention efforts in cooperation with criminal justice agencies.
Abstract
The components of the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign are (1) nationwide public service advertising by the Ad Council in cooperation with sponsoring organizations, (2) the development and distribution printed materials as educational aids, and (3) programmatic support designed to enlist the aid and resources of national and State-level businesses as well as service and governmental organizations. Goals of the program were to change unwarranted feelings and attitudes about crime and the criminal justice system, generate an individual sense of responsibility for crime prevention, mobilize additional resources for crime prevention efforts, and enhance existing crime prevention programs. After assessing public attitudes toward crime and crime prevention, advertising was developed for all major media outlets featuring the trenchcoated crime prevention dog named McGruff. Since the initial development of materials, local and State organizations have adopted the campaign and put McGruff on their own brochures. During the first 2 years of the program, more than 26 statewide crime prevention forums have been held. Technical assistance has been provided to national and State organizations in developing crime prevention programs. A poll indicated that 30 percent of adult Americans recognized the campaign after the first 6 months of exposure.