With warm weather here, beware of child lures

With warmer weather, many more residents of all ages are enjoying recreation outside. Parents, please be sure to pay extra attention to your children's whereabouts and activities. Excellent information about Common Lures Used to Attract Children are available from the Jacob Wetterling Foundation's web page: www.jwf.org or from its new metro area office at 651-714-4673.

One of the lures cited is that of someone using a puppy to attract a child's interest. In fact, Minneapolis police received a report of a young girl walking on the 5200 block of Bloomington Ave. S. on Friday, April 2,who was spoken to by an unidentified man.

The child was going to the park about a block away. He spoke with the victim about his dog and motioned for her to walk with him. The victim started walking down the block with the suspect and his dog but her mom saw the incident and yelled for the child to come back. The man and child proceeded to walk together about half a block and then child returned home while the man continued walking down the street.

The suspect was described as a white male about 6 feet tall, 30-35 years of age, of large build, and having shoulder-length straight, dark brown hair. He was wearing a shiny red windbreaker, blue jeans and sunglasses. Suspect was walking a large dog that had long, golden brown hair. The dog was described by the victim as a "lassie" type. The suspect was gone when officers arrived.

The mother acted quickly and correctly when she called 911. She also had been clever to think of sending along a walkie-talkie with her child when she first left so that they could stay in touch.

Also, please remember that children in your neighborhood may need a safe place to go as they travel to and from school and other times when they are outdoors. We need McGruff Houses!

Approximately 200 cases of crime against children, committed by strangers, are reported in Minneapolis each year. (Only about 20 percent of all child crime is reported.) There are also many other kinds of emergency situations that children are in countless times each year; they get lost, hurt, frightened, locked out, etc.
McGruff Houses provide places for children to go in emergency situations. Here's how they work. When a child comes to the door of a McGruff House, the volunteer calls the child's parents or 911. The police respond if necessary.

The volunteer files a report with Community Crime Prevention/SAFE.

A McGruff volunteer is a trained person who is normally home during the day and who will help children in trouble. (The screening consists of a written application, a criminal history check, an in-home police interview, and neighbor reference checks.) McGruff Houses are identified by a large McGruff House window sign
If you are generally home when neighborhood children leave for school in the morning and when they return in the afternoon, consider becoming a McGruff volunteer. Talk with your neighbors about it! Perhaps two of you could share the task. Call your SAFE team (612-673-2839) for more information.