Fighting Crime, Standing Up For Victims
Attorney General Mark Bennett, the first Republican appointee to that post in 40 years, says his job is to be the attorney for all the people of Hawaii
By Alice Keesing
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Bennett discusses legislation with, from left,
staffers Lisa Ginoza, Genie Calaro and Dana
Viola
prices.
This month, the AG’s office has been focused on Crime Prevention Month.
“We all as citizens, we have a responsibility to know what’s going on around us, and while we certainly all want law enforcement to help protect us, we have to start by trying to protect ourselves,” Bennett says. “We have to start by keeping our homes secure, by paying attention to what’s going on around us and by calling law enforcement if we see something that warrants a call like that.”
This year is also a special one for the attorney general’s favorite crime-fighting canine: McGruff turns 20 this year.
During his two decades, McGruff has earned a fond place in the attorney general’s office for the work he does to instill the concept of crime prevention and safety in young children.
With wife Patricia Ohara
“He originally started off as a SWAT dog,” explains Valerie Mariano, the chief of community and crime prevention who acts as McGruff’s “agent.”
Alas, the poi-dog McGruff didn’t have the German-shepherd-type attitude needed for that kind of work, so he soon paired up with a detective.
“One day the detective got sick and McGruff said, ‘Hey, I’ve been going out with him for a while, let me try this,’ so he put on the trench coat and he’s been doing crime prevention ever since,” Mariano explains.
McGruff does about 50 community events a year. And lately he’s been joined by his nephew, Scruff.
“We really want to send, with the help of Scruff and McGruff, the message to kids that police officers, law enforcement officers are their friends, that they’re there to help them and, if they have a problem, that there’s somebody there who they can talk to,” Bennett says.
As for how long the crime-fighting duo of Bennett and McGruff will be on the job, Bennett’s appointment is up in December. The AG will be appointed by the newly elected governor, and Bennett isn’t publicly speculating about what’s to come.
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