Imagine If McGruff Actually Gave Useful Advice for Dealing With Cops

31 years ago, McGruff the Crime Dog was introduced to encourage kids to “take a bite out of crime.” The anthropomorphic cartoon dog’s ad campaigns were a staple of 1980s & ’90s TV and were mostly centered on personal safety (locking your doors, stranger danger, etc) and community action (like joining a neighborhood watch and asking your neighbors to keep an eye on your home when you’re on vacation).

Another big element of McGruff’s campaign was getting kids to trust and work with police, as well as using the cute character to soften the police’s public image. Even today, police departments across the country use McGruff costumes for outreach programs.

Adorable, right? Of course it is. That’s the whole point.

A worker-owned streaming service called Means TV has updated McGruff with some more helpful advice for kids (or anyone) when dealing with the police, starting with “don’t.”

The digital flyer is full of great ACLU-approved advice like talking with a lawyer before talking to the police and consulting the National Lawyers Guild. There are also really important reminders like the fact that you have the right not to talk to police and also, remember, “cops are allowed to lie!”

This truly is the McGruff we need.

(via BoingBoing, image: NCPC)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter