Sipes, spokesman for the federal Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, has 40 years of criminal justice experience, starting with four years as a Maryland state trooper and then more than three decades in public relations.
What’s your most interesting moment during your 30 years in public relations?
Shutting down the state of Maryland during a blizzard in 1996. The Baltimore Sun called the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and asked what people should do. I said, “People should stay home.” It was too dangerous to travel. The Sun’s headline the following day was “State Says Stay Home.” Although it was good advice, it taught me to choose my words carefully.
I understand you helped give birth to McGruff the Crime Dog.
I operated a national crime prevention clearinghouse in conjunction with the “McGruff, Take a Bite Out of Crime” campaign at the very beginning. They suggested that I wear the outfit to ensure that I understood what the brand represented, so I did.
How’d that help?
I learned the intimate power of advertising and the influence public relations brings to day-to-day life. Children took McGruff as a living entity who was there to protect them. Children told me about intimate parts of their lives — a brother or sister was not behaving and they feared for their well-being or that a father was drinking too much. When I left for a new job, the National Crime Prevention Council gave me a send-off. My 5-year old daughter went with me. When she realized I was not going to work for McGruff any longer, she angrily asked, “How could you leave McGruff without anyone to protect him?” She did not speak to me during the train ride home.
What’s the main lesson in your crime and media course?
Government needs to be fair and responsive providers of information to the media and public. There is no substitute for honesty and transparency.
– Scott McCabe
