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Posts Tagged ‘enforcement’

Is anyone reading the latest news about graffiti vandalism? The news is not good. Every day, Google sends me the results of a search on one word – graffiti. Today as I reviewed the news items in that search I realized things were not good for victims or for vandals. It worries me that we as a country might be ignoring or developing a social insensitivity to this problem again.  It does tend, like most things in life, to go through cycles.

Today the search reveals:

1. Accused top graffiti vandal arrested in Phoenix

2. North VGancouver RCMP Tag Graffiti Vandals

3. Police Make Arrest in Church Graffiti Spree

4. Teen Arrested in Connection with Racial Graffiti in Wales

5. Graffiti Spree in Central Park

6. Graffiti Artist (sic) Killed by D-Train (There is no such thing as a graffiti artist.)

7. Anti-Graffiti Lawyer Gets Message Spray Painted on HIs Building

8. From Mastadons to Graffiti

9. Teen’s Graffiti Causes $11,000 Worth of Damage to Property

10. Photo Mural Showcasing Humanity Defaced by Graffiti

The truths of graffiti vandalism are always evident in the news.

There is no honor among vandals. Graffiti vandals deface art and vandalism and claim to call it art. The difference, however, between graffiti and art is and always will be – PERMISSION.

Young vandals are still being killed pursuing their criminal thrills.

Community structures, including churches, are victims of senseless vandalism.

Racial and hate graffiti is always going to be used by cowards to make their point in shameful anonimity.

Vandals are ultimately arrested, convicted, and sentenced for their crimes.

Graffiti is still tied to archaeology to help us feel better about it. Obfuscations of vandalism still abound.

Is there still an anti-graffiti sentiment in our communities? Do our communities still have citizens cleaning up after the vandals, teaching our children to respect the property of another, and insisting on vandalism enforcement? It might be time to look at our communities to make sure we have not been taking these things for granted.

The Maryland Senate last night rejected by one vote a bill to authorize the use of cameras to catch speeding drivers across the state. But some senators said they were concerned that the cameras would be used largely to raise revenue for local governments and that they would represent an unprecedented intrusion into residents’ private lives.

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Yesterday Maryland just passed a law allowing the use of Speed Cameras in the entire state. They’re currently in use in Montgomery County, where the Police that receive speeding tickets themselves refuse to pay the tickets. The law says the owner of the vehicle has to pay the fine – and they don’t own the cop cars… so they refuse to pay.

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The Maryland Senate changed its mind and passed a law it had just defeated that will allow cameras to issue speeding tickets within a five mile radius of schools and work zones.

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(Editorial Opinion-  032809) xxxxxxBounty.com claims to be a site that permits graffiti victims to upload a bounty for taggers or graffiti vandals. A bounty is supposed to encourage people that know who the tagger is to act and turn in the tagger to xxxxxxBounty. This is odd, very unusual, and in my view not a very good idea. These were the things that crossed my mind when I looked over this website.

The likelihood that someone knows a tagger listed on this site then leaves their name to turn the tagger in for pennies is very remote. There’s no more incentive than one or two twenty dollar bills. I’m inclined to call it wishful thinking at best. In the meantime of course xxxxxxBounty is earning interest on the bounty funds.  Victims that are angry and fed up with vandalism might be tempted out of frustration to fund a bounty but they may never yield a result.

There is no process information anywhere on the site that offers any details or gives anyone what the probability might be that a vandal will ever be identified and prosecuted. There is no promise of anonymity either. Who in their right mind is going to act on a twenty-dollar bounty to identify a gang member’s graffiti?

Where is the profit in this business model? I have serious concerns about sending this company money. There is no company mailing address and there are no real names of corporate officers provided. All you can see are carefully crafted email contact addresses. I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling about sending money into an Internet black hole.

Most communities with a graffiti problem have well established methods for citizens to report vandalism. The most common place to start is with the local police! What good is it going to do to send an anonymous company a $20 bounty?

I’m not at all impressed with their FAQ’s. Question number two asks, “Are you against graffiti artists?” There is no such thing. By definition graffiti is a crime. This site also considers art (produced in collaboration with a property owner) graffiti. Talk about confused.

The site says the two most important things you can do if you see vandalism in progress is to call the police and then contribute to a bounty. Wrong.  First you call the police and next find out how and when the vandalism is going to be abated. The community may have an abatement volunteer group that a citizen can join. Cleaning the vandalism or working to insist that local officials and businesses abate the vandalism is far more important than enriching a private company inserting itself into the law enforcement process.

These people and their so-called bounty could significantly hamper or interfere with law enforcement efforts. Witnesses to crimes should be working with their local police and not through a third party. When police are not cooperative graffiti victims should be going to their city or county elected officials with complaints.  In most places, police will work to capture vandals. This is  especially true in the State of California where some of the site’s current pictures originate.  My experience in abatement issues has been with some of the more superior agencies like San Jose and Santa Rosa Police in California. There are many more enlightened agencies out there with dedicated graffiti cops. Police have informants, sophisticated computer systems and even the assistance of other police agencies on difficult cases. Police will find the bad guys in time as long as citizens trust them to. Citizens might even be able to put a bounty of their own at a local bank and establish a local committee to work with the police when deciding to award the bounty – if such a tactic is even necessary.

Most bounty’s are rewards for information GIVEN TO LAW ENFORCEMENT that result in the arrest and conviction of a criminal. There is a formal process for evaluating information and establishing whether or not it was significant. I don’t see any mention of how this website’s owners establish bounty eligibility or make payments. Do a little what-if analysis of your own and I’ll bet you decide not to send them a dime.

This company is apparently in favor of legal graffiti areas. Legal graffiti zones have never worked, and will never work. This company has no understanding of the vandalism subculture and is encouraging actions that will only serve their interests. They might succeed in perpetuating an income if people do send them money by encouraging free walls because free walls have always contributed to additional vandalism and tagging in the vicinity of the free walls regardless of the rules. After reading the site it is clear to me these folks are probably opportunists not fully aware of the anti-graffiti strategies that have worked for years.

Anyone seriously involved in graffiti enforcement and abatement will tell you that publishing the picture of a tag on the Internet is not a good idea. Vandals love to see their work up where people can see it and that includes the Internet. This site features tags. It’s probably the first [place a tagger would go to determine his/her own popularity. A bounty for their tag would actually contribute to more vandalism.

This approach is wrong on many levels and it does not appear that the owners, whomever they are, really understand the problem. It seems to me they see a money-making opportunity at the obvious expense of the angry graffiti victim. I believe the best course of action is to remain well away from xxxxxxBounty.com. I regret not providing the complete URL. It is my way of warning you away from a site that appears to a poor abatement option while also not providing the site with any additional advertising than they already receive in various banner ads. When you run across the site just remember – caveat emptor.

In response to car accidents caused by text messaging and health concerns of minors in automobiles, the Maryland General Assembly is considering heavier restrictions against motorists’ freedoms.

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