Editing McGruff the Crime Dog (section)

=== Crime as a Public Concern ===
In the years leading up to McGruff's creation, public concern over crime in the U.S. was on the rise. The 1960s were marked by widespread riots and the assassinations of major public figures, including President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. During his 1964 presidential campaign, Barry Goldwater made crime a central issue. Although he lost to Lyndon B. Johnson, the focus on crime persisted. In July 1965, President Johnson established the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to thoroughly investigate the nation’s crime problems.

After two years and $2.5 million, the Commission released its findings in February 1967 in a report titled ''The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society''. This report influenced the Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, which provided $300 million to local police departments for personnel and equipment. With the election of Richard Nixon in 1968, efforts to curb rising crime shifted from a social approach—centered on the "War on Poverty"—to a "tough on crime" strategy, known as the "War on Crime." Despite Nixon's focus on crime (until his resignation in 1974), crime rates increased, climbing from 363.5 crimes per 100,000 people in 1970 to 549.5 by 1979. Under President Carter, the national focus shifted to nuclear arms control and human rights, but crime remained an issue, highlighted by the 1979 "kill for thrill" murders in Western Pennsylvania, where two men killed four people over eight days.