McGruff Busier Than Santa Claus; More than 300 Appearances for National Night Out

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- McGruff the Crime Dog, icon of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), will be busier than St. Nick on Christmas night when he appears at more than 300 National Night Out events this month, 40 of which are completely new to the annual lineup. National Night Out is on August 7, 2007, and is a unique one-night event held to heighten crime prevention awareness, neighborhood spirit, and police-community partnerships. The event's theme is echoed by NCPC and is supported through McGruff's appearances at many of the events happening nationwide.

Last year's campaign involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations, and local officials from over 10,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide. In all, over 34 million people participated in National Night Out 2006.

Partnering with law enforcement has been the genesis of NCPC's work for more than 25 years. McGruff plays an important role at more than 4,000 local police departments across the country. Local law enforcement use McGruff costumes as part of their community's crime prevention efforts.

National Night Out is held on the first Tuesday in August every year and is coordinated by the National Association of Town Watch with funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

About the National Crime Prevention Council

The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) is a private, nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to enable people to create safer and more caring communities by addressing the causes of crime and violence and reducing the opportunities for crime to occur. NCPC manages public service advertising under the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign-symbolized by McGruff the Crime Dog(R) and his "Take A Bite Out Of Crime(R)" slogan-and acts as secretariat for the Crime Prevention Coalition of America, a nonpartisan group of national, federal, state, and local organizations committed to preventing crime. NCPC is funded through a variety of government agencies, corporate and private foundations, and donations from private individuals. For more information on crime prevention issues, visit http://www.ncpc.org/; for information on the National Citizens' Crime Prevention Campaign, visit http://www.weprevent.org/.

Further Information: Michelle Boykins, Director p 202-261-4184 f 202-296-1356 mboykins@ncpc.org http://www.ncpc.org/