Community Services
The Community Services provides support and resources to residents of Lansing. This includes organizing Neighborhood Watch groups, providing senior citizens with safety tips, running the Citizen Police Academy, offering crime prevention seminars to businesses and residents, monitoring false alarms, conducting home security surveys, and using McGruff the Crime Dog to spread the crime prevention message. Each year the Community Services Unit sponsors several events to encourage neighborhood participation and to raise awareness about crime prevention. The Community Services Unit helps develop partnerships between City residents and the police department, a key component of our community policing.
McGruff Visits
Over the years McGruff has made his way across the country to spread crime prevention messages. In the past few years, he's marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, thrown out the first pitch at baseball games, shaken hands with senators on the steps of the Capitol building, and rung NASDAQ's closing bell.
But McGruff doesn't just do bigtime events – he makes local appearances too. If you'd like to schedule a visit from McGruff for your next event, call either Officer Jeromy Churchill at (517) 483-4469 or Officer Sarah Nolen at (517) 272-7486 ext. 9029 or by email at jchurchill@lansingmi.gov or snolen@lansingmi.gov. Some popular occasions for a McGruff visit are:
- School assemblies
- Health and safety fairs
- Crime Prevention Month and Halloween events
- Community events related to public safety
