Editing McGruff the Crime Dog (section)

=== Creation ===
In 1977, the Department of Justice approached the Ad Council to develop a public campaign aimed at engaging citizens in reducing crime. The FBI director initially suggested a fear-based approach to encourage people to take personal safety measures, but the Ad Council rejected this idea, believing it would be ineffective with an already anxious public. Despite this, the Ad Council remained interested in a crime prevention campaign. Leo Perlis, a member of the Ad Council's Public Policy Committee, supported the initiative and met with key figures, including FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley, the head of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and a board member of the National Sheriffs' Association, to form a coalition to guide the campaign.

The Ad Council assigned the creative duties to Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, the same agency behind the successful Keep America Beautiful campaign. On February 8, 1979, the Ad Council's board of directors held a meeting with public officials to review data gathered by Dancer Fitzgerald Sample. The agency had conducted focus groups in various cities to gauge public perceptions of crime. The findings revealed that people believed crime prevention was primarily the responsibility of the police, but they were unwilling to support higher taxes to fund more officers. Based on this, the agency recommended a campaign focusing on how individual actions could reduce crime and offering simple, accessible ways for people to get involved.

The task of developing the crime prevention mascot was assigned to Jack Keil, executive vice president and creative director at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample. Inspired by the success of Smokey Bear, Keil envisioned using an animal mascot and coined the slogan "Take a bite out of crime." He initially imagined the mascot as a Snoopy-like dog wearing a Keystone Cop hat, but his creative team felt this concept wouldn’t be taken seriously. Keil then challenged the team to come up with a new design in one day.

Five teams, each consisting of a copywriter and an art director, presented various ideas. Among the rejected proposals were a bulldog version of J. Edgar Hoover, a golden retriever, an "aggressive-looking deputy dog," and a "mongrel who became a wonder dog." The concept that Keil selected, which ultimately became McGruff, was a talking dog in a trench coat designed by Sherry Nemmers and Ray Krivascy. This character was portrayed as a world-weary detective, drawing inspiration from figures like Raymond Chandler’s private investigators, Dashiell Hammett’s characters, and even Columbo.

While Keil praised the idea, the U.S. Department of Justice was initially skeptical about using a talking dog to promote crime prevention. Around this time, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)—created by President Johnson—was under fire for inefficiency, leading President Carter to dismantle it. However, Robert Diegelman, tasked with shutting down the LEAA, saw potential in the public safety outreach program and managed to preserve it, despite opposition. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti voiced his disapproval, famously asking, "Why has the LEAA gotten into a campaign that is spending good money on a talking dog?" Though Civiletti ordered the campaign to be canceled, the advertisements had already been distributed to the media and were ready to air.

In November 1979, the dog was officially introduced at a press conference in New York City with the slogan "Take a bite out of crime." Eight months later, in July 1980, a nationwide contest to name the dog concluded. "McGruff the Crime Dog" was selected as the winning name, with "Shurlocked Homes" as the runner-up. The winning name was submitted by Officer John Isbell of the New Orleans Police Department.