[Graffiti is not art. Graffiti is a crime.] Back to An Anti-Graffiti Web Page

The Anti-Graffiti FAQ

Graffiti: Terrorism in the larval stage.
There is nothing artistic about vandalism.

What you might like to know about graffiti, that you won't
find on the web pages of graffiti advocates.
This FAQ is based on my research, and reading on the subject
of graffiti as well as the contributions of interested
readers of this page.


The Graffiti FAQ Table of Contents

This is an evolving document. Please feel free to contribute to it by writing faq@dougweb.com If you would like to be notified of changes to this document you may use the Page Watch button at the bottom of this page. Page Watch is a free service that sends an e-mail once per week regarding page changes. Page Watch pays for their service by sending a small advertisement with each message. I acknowledge this document is getting large and probably bothers third generation web authors. The intent of this page is to provide easily readable content.

What about experimental graffiti abatement programs? Do these programs work?

So called free walls, graffiti walls, graffiti zones, etc. have failed to correct the vandalism communities have experienced. Huntington Beach, California is one of the most famous of these examples. Once the vandals had a place to paint, vandalism in the immediate area of the walls increased 300 percent. Graffiti zones do not work. Graffiti zones attract trouble. Despite the obvious failure of the vandals to adhere to community agreements, this city still stands accused of artistic censorship by graffiti advocates! Go figure! (Another graffiti advocate deceit think ploy to gain world sympathy.)

Would you like SPECIFIC examples? Visit this page at Nograffiti.com called: Graffiti “Free” or “Sanctioned” Walls Vignettes from All Over

One of the first things many community anti-graffiti groups do is suggest a so called "free-wall." The graffiti vandals are often the first to suggest it to them. It is absolutely normal at first to feel sorry for the vandal. Why wouldn't giving him or her a place to paint be a good idea? It seems very appropriate at first. But be very careful. During the time period between 1985 to about 1990, free wall experiments were tried in many cities. There were also walls that were simply "over looked" to designated walls that required some form of registration before painting could begin. In virtually every case, vandalism in the areas around the free zones became problematic. Communities like Fresno, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles found themselves confronted with increased vandalism. Agreements between the cities and the so called artists were not honored by the "artists." Time has proven that free walls do not work. Apparently if a vandal is predisposed to violate the law, all the free walls in the world won't keep the vandal straight, and the paint off your wall. There is no honor among vandals.

Over looking the graffiti problem in certain areas of town, even under railroad over passes, encourages continuing vandalism. Graffiti abatement efforts are successful only when a zero tolerance policy is adopted. If you give the vandal a place to paint the vandal will become bored with that location and move to new areas.

A known tactic of the graffiti vandals is to practice or plan a piece with their crew on a free wall. The crew then goes elsewhere to paint the same picture without permission! Why? What the vandals who demand free walls don't tell you, and don't want you to know, is that the act of painting illegally is an essential part of the vandalism culture. If it isn't illegal it isn't graffiti. A city with a free wall could very well be contributing to the graffiti vandalism problem in another community. So be informed. Be absolutely outraged if the community next to you develops a soft heart for vandals. Your own community will pay the price.

In some cities, like Philadelphia, PA, government or privately sponsored community murals are helping to abate graffiti. What is present in this method that is absent in the "free zone" approach is adult empowerment, support, and supervision. In some instances painting is not the only activity kids are involved in. Kids have something to be proud of when finished. They take pride in their work. In most cases the people doing the painting have never been graffiti vandals!

In one Bay Area city an arts organization paid graffiti vandals to do a legal mural. The legal work was done, and soon afterward, the tags of those paid to do the work started to appear on walls and utility boxes in the same area. Mural experiments must have strict guidelines and supervision. In this case, I am told, the city let the mural artist have his way with little attention.

In places where vandals do have access to free wall it is not uncommon for a crew to practice on the free wall and go someplace else to do the same piece illegally. This has been documented in the U.S. and the United States. The sooner the do-gooders recognize graffiti vandals for what they really are the better. Free walls don't work.

California's Cal Trans had graffiti crews paint murals at freeway overpasses in the San Francisco area without coordinating these activities with the cities. Vandals that painted these murals are now trashing the areas in the vicinity of the murals. One government agency is blessing graffiti vandalism while the other is fighting it tooth and nail.

Even commercial walls painted to resemble graffiti attract vandalism. A famous San Francisco restaurant and night spot had their walls painted in hip hop style. It took no time before the walls of the business attracted vandals from everywhere. The entire neighborhood is now covered in graffiti. This poison the graffiti advocates call art is destroying the beauty of of our communities.

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Government and the Law

Police departments, especially departments in small cities do not have time to investigate all vandalism complaints. The community and neighborhood watch groups must assume a serious role in the observing and reporting of vandalism. Police do respond to graffiti crimes in progress. The community cannot expect the police department alone to solve the graffiti problem. Graffiti IS a community issue and the police are just one integral part of the solution. Do make it easy for the police to help by getting good descriptions of suspects and suspect vehicles (make, model, license numbers etc.) Combine your graffiti abatement program with your crime prevention program.

Police departments that encourage officers to investigate misdemeanor vandalism complaints are generally departments that use community policing procedures. Under the community policing philosophy, criminal problems in the community are identified and solutions are sought. If your community is not using community policing visit with your Chief of Police and ask why. This web site at the University of Alaska has a wealth of information and links regarding criminal justice, including community policing. Many police departments have no interest in investigating graffiti complaints. To get their attention you need to start from the top down. If you can't get attention going in the front door start with the council or the police chief. Unfortunately, graffiti is often soon to much as a social problem. It is ALSO a police problem whether the cops like it or not. There's no glory investigating graffiti and the officers assigned frequently wish they were doing something else. Real graffiti cops are a rare breed. Meet real graffiti cops at Nograffiti.Com.

In California an officer must witness a misdemeanor to make an arrest, otherwise an investigation must be completed and a warrant sought before an arrest can be made. Witnesses to graffiti crimes can make a citizen's arrest. Felony vandalism arrests can be made on probable cause without warrant. A felony vandalism arrest is made when the damage amount exceeds $5000. California has passed a law that allows police to classify multiple graffiti damage locations as a felony. What are the graffiti laws in your state? Have you considered strengthening the laws in your state?

Graffiti abatement requires cooperation between citizens, police, district attorneys, judges, and local and state governments. Graffiti is a crime, but it is also a condition of our society's failure to raise children with traditional values and respect for law and the rights of others. We have not been caring for our kids.

Political leaders will sometimes not agree their city or county has a graffiti problem until 1) citizens bring proof and pressure to bear 2) the politicians are victims themselves 3) area businesses become enraged (money talks) 4) it is so obvious it cannot be ignored. It is embarrassing for some politicians to admit there is a graffiti problem. Serious elected officials with their hearts in the community can see the damage and arrange for appropriate action. Don't be surprised at first when politicians try to ignore a graffiti problem. It is a routine part of the process. You see it and you go through denial that it could get any worse. The politicians have a vested interest in NOT having problems happen during their term in office.

When the public loses interest in graffiti abatement, government agencies will lose interest as well. In order not to lose interest any program needs a person or committee independent of government to manage the effort. It takes energy, management, supervision and direction to keep a program running. City officials never seem to have the time, but volunteers often do. Help your city cope with graffiti by starting a well organized and supervised program dedicated to abatement and community education. When the community support begins to wane it is ALSO imperative that the city or county invigorate the program without the community's help until people do return. Graffiti abatement is not something you can start and stop. Abatement is a necessary and continuing process.

It is easy for the community to determine just how serious government and local business organizations are about graffiti abatement. Lip service does not eliminate the complaints or the graffiti. If you have been talking to your city for some time and the graffiti remains, all you are getting is lip service. Stay on top of the government agency because like it or not, you need their support. The ballot box is an effective tool. Vote politicians out of office that do not have a long term commitment to ending vandalism.

Banning the sale of aerosol paint cans outright was ruled unconstitutional in Chicago in 1993. The courts heard that 95% of the people responsible for graffiti vandalism were too committed to be deterred by the ban. (Source NGIN "From the Wall" December 1993.) Banning of aerosol paints is frequently topical and very controversial. It is an attempt to remove the vandal's primary tool. The effectiveness of this method can be debated. In general, the vandal will go wherever he or she needs to get their paints or markers -- including mail order and especially petty theft or burglary. Have we really reached a point where we must inconvenience the law abiding citizen because we are not able to control the distribution of paints at the point of sale? Should we be looking at encouraging business to lock up paints and supplies rather than limiting what can be sold?

I have run across a police department in California that believes that enforcement is a MAJOR part of the abatement effort. When it is obvious that certain parts of town are being struck by vandals this agency puts officers out to catch the culprits. This city North of San Francisco, caught 30 kids in a little over two weeks and almost brought a complete halt to the problem. When the city notices the problem creeping back the police get tough again. So it seems law enforcement is a philosophy than can vary from place to place. I suspect it has much to do with budgets and what police officials in your area consider important.

The laws in the U.S. are getting tougher and more graffiti vandals are getting stiffer sentences.

Some states still don't get it. They can't see the forest for the trees. Despite the horrific damage graffiti vandals do some states can't enact laws that make public vandalism a serious crime. The lobbyists against laws that allow police to make multiple misdemeanors a single felony count are self serving legal groups and in some cases - actual city and county governments. A recent case in California where a vandal was caught with 30 or more acts of vandalism amounting to over $90,000 was tried on ONE lousy misdemeanor and fined a miserable $1500. Where is the justice in that? The truth is the public doesn't know - yet. Californians mark my words. The time is come for an initiative that MANDATES vermin like this be tried as felons. They must also be held accountable for the damage they cause down to the last cent.

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Art, Crime, and Society Values

Graffiti is a crime. Graffiti is vandalism. Graffiti is not art. There can be no argument in support of vandalism.

Commissioned art is not graffiti. Murals or walls painted LEGALLY are paintings or murals. Commission graffiti-style art carefully. A very famous place in a very famous city had graffiti-style paintings painted on the outside. Now the community near this business is a sewer of graffiti vandalism.

Every state has vandalism laws that apply to graffiti. Graffiti may have once been over looked in some areas but it has always been illegal.

In California, when public property is damaged by the vandal, intent to commit vandalism is presumed by statute.

Why is graffiti such an issue? Why this web page and why the FAQ? Graffiti is in vogue by a small subculture of vandals who unfortunately are having a major impact on the overall quality of life. Communities that never had a graffiti problem, suddenly do. Cities that had a small problem suddenly have a major problem. Graffiti is invading places and communities where we as civilized persons thought it would never take hold. Small Town, USA has graffiti on Main Street now. Graffiti is a sign of our time that needs attention. Information on the net was predominately pro-graffiti with no active voice against graffiti.

Even in communities with plenty of things for kids to do there are graffiti vandals.

Graffiti advocates believe graffiti is art and that so called "graffiti artists" have the right to paint any wall, any where, any time. Your blank wall is unsightly to the graffiti vandal and therefor is a perfect surface for their "art.".

Graffiti advocates believe graffiti is a right, protected by the first amendment, and that the property rights of the victim do not apply in any argument against graffiti. They feel graffiti is an acceptable form of self expression that the rest of the world is just too stupid to accept.

Graffiti advocates do not want graffiti legalized. The act of painting illegally is a major part of the thrill. Breaking the law and avoiding arrest is part of their culture. The need for so called legal walls is a continual rallying point with graffiti advocates but in reality the "legal wall" is part of their deceit.

Graffiti advocates will ask you whether you would want the graffiti artist out making pretty pictures or killing people. At least he's not killing people they say. This is supposed to make you feel better. (The other problem with this argument is that "tag bangers" in Los Angeles are killing and being killed. Most of the vandals caught up in graffiti don't understand their own sub-culture or are bent on deceiving the uninformed.)

Graffiti advocates believe that since legal billboards exist their graffiti should be allowed. This because they are financially challenged.

Rampant graffiti in a neighborhood tends to lower property values and scare away responsible persons who might otherwise buy property and invest in the community. The economic health of a community depends on the social health. We are all responsible for the social health of our towns.

Many states allow victims of graffiti to sue the vandals to recover damages. In California Sections 1714.1B and 1721 of the California Civil Code provide remedies for graffiti victims.

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How do communities respond to graffiti?

It is perfectly natural to at first feel some empathy for the poor disenfranchised tagger. If you don't know they are deceiving you, you approach the problem like you would any other. Get over it. Graffiti advocates are not after empathy, only your wall.

Communities must begin their fight against graffiti the moment the graffiti first appears. When you delay your response the vandalism worsens. Before you know it the vandals have created zones of their own that you will start calling "graffiti alley." Develop a zero tolerance attitude toward graffiti vandalism.

Pacific Grove Police Star
Pacific Grove, California has a community oriented zero tolerance approach
to fighting graffiti that has the following essential elements:
(contact Ed Harriger for more information.) and visit their web page!
  • Teach about anti-graffiti in the middle school DARE program.
  • Educate the community.
  • Educate stores who sell markers and paint sticks, about what kind of tools graffiti taggers use to make their mark.
  • Get the community involved.
  • Identify and Prosecute offenders.
  • Develop a graffiti abatement ordinance.
  • Get people to report graffiti for tracking - even if they do (thank you!) clean it up themselves.
  • Involve the School Resource Officer in Graffiti prevention.
  • Use volunteer groups to inventory and identify all sites with graffiti in the city.
  • When graffiti shows up on public utilities (pay phones, poles, power transfer boxes) notify the appropriate utility for clean up.
  • The police keep a "piece book" of taggers and their work and monikers.
  • Work with other cities specialists to help train our officers in gang related graffiti markings and monikers - Particularly cities with previous experience in this area.
  • Frequent patrol of problem areas.
  • Planned Citizens Police Academy w/discussion in one block of specific issues, i.e., graffiti, shoplifting
  • Vigilance is a key factor in abatement.
  • Have graffiti reporting numbers.
  • Ask the community to report crimes in progress via 911.
  • Document all graffiti cases with a criminal report and photographs whenever possible. And: If someone sees graffiti , citizens are encouraged to clean graffiti and to take a picture for the police. The stylized writing and moniker just might identify the person responsible!
  • Report all graffiti to the police.

Another community with a major gang and graffiti web presence on their police page is Scottsdale, Arizona. See what enlightened law enforcement is capable of and follow this link! The Scottsdale, Arizona Police Department Gang and Youth Intervention Page. The webmaster, Sgt. Mark Clark, also presents his own philosophy on graffiti vandalism. Scottsdale is an example setting community. The Scottsdale, AZ link is a must read!

Your community will have no funds for graffiti abatement. You will seek community support to meet the expense. Identify volunteers willing to do fund raising activities for your community abatement team. Team up with your business community or a local high school. (Be creative.)

Identify and take advantage of grant opportunities. There may be grant funds available to your abatement program from sources other than the local government budget.

There are no easy answers to eliminating graffiti. Each community's response to the blight is slightly different. Organizing abatement should be taken seriously. Identify goals and objectives and meet each one.

Don't balkanize the abatement effort. Don't let one city department work against another. It is too easy for each part of a city to have its own graffiti abatement program. When this happens, graffiti gets abated occasionally but not routinely. No one knows who is in charge and everyone takes credit (especially the politicians) whether they deserve it or not. Make sure your community organizes to get the job done properly.

Hold your local authorities accountable. Don't let the anti-graffiti effort in your town lose momentum because a politician, bureaucrat or a police official, doesn't have time to do his or her job. Whenever you hear that old excuse, offer up a volunteer, and/or insist the jurisdiction hire enough people to meet the expectations of its citizens. Never accept no for an answer. Tell them you are also fed up with excuses and arguments. Likewise, whenever a city official does a great job toward meeting the abatement objective, go out of your way to thank his or her supervisor and the local elected officials.

Get the local newspaper to publish the activities of your volunteer graffiti abatement group. This might be harder than you think especially if the local paper has persons who are sympathetic with the plight of the so called "street artist. It has been my personal experience that today's news media, especially newspapers, are prone to be graffiti advocates.

When you start your organization it will falter unless you have experienced volunteer leaders and the cooperation of your local government.

Make sure your community D.A.R.E. program has an anti-crime, anti-vandalism, anti-graffiti unit included for the kids in local schools. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) D.A.R.E. programs do work. The programs do reach kids early in life so the kids can make intelligent choices about their future and their friends. Support your local D.A.R.E. officer. (Here is a description of a D.A.R.E. program in Millbury, Ohio.) and here the same site's list of other D.A.R.E. World Wide Web Resources.

Work with kids in your community. Develop mentor programs. Identify "at risk kids and groups. Build youth centers. Create REAL ART programs for kids and young adults.

Do your local youth centers and organizations talk about vandalism? Encourage local anti-vandalism youth programs.

There are some inherently bad responses to graffiti. One of the worst examples of graffiti removal policy is perpetuated by California's highway department, Caltrans. Wherever they have new freeway contract work in progress they ONLY require contractors to clean the graffiti at the beginning and the end of the contract. This means graffiti placed on walls during the job can be up for months attracting even more damage. I have personal experience with this policy. Instead of meeting the challenge to abate vandalism this mindless bureaucracy makes graffiti videos with school children. part of the graffiti fight is controlling the government agencies that are supposed to be on our side.

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Fundamentals: The Truth Has a Way of Making Itself Obvious

The fundamental emphasis of any graffiti abatement program is the prompt removal of graffiti damage. The faster you remove it the faster the problem diminishes. Most successful programs have a 24 hour or less abatement rule. Cities that are serious about removing graffiti aggressively use their graffiti ordinances.

The difference between graffiti and art is permission.

Cleaning graffiti is hard work.

Cleaning graffiti is expensive.

Graffiti often damages surfaces to the point of permanently changing the character of the surface and the character of the neighborhood.

There is no such thing as a graffiti artist. Anyone who still believes there is a graffiti advocate that has an agenda.

Painting over graffiti damage is, in some cases, the only way to cover it up.

Framing graffiti with paint attracts the attention of the vandal on repeated occasions. When you don't match the color, or just paint over the tag, you invite a return performance by the vandal. The paint job looks terrible and so does your building! Take time to do it right!

Graffiti advocates consider any attempt to abate graffiti ridiculous. They threaten to expand their vandalism to new levels if you paint over their work.

Graffiti writers do turn their lives around and become productive, responsible members of society. When you can engage a vandal in conversation stick firmly to the truth that graffiti is vandalism. Once in a while a discussion like this can help turn someone around. Some of the vandals are indeed socially undesirable. Others are just kids with an attitude. Deal with the attitude and bring the kid back.

Parents are held responsible for graffiti damage. Moms and Dads: discipline, respect, and self worth are all learned at home. When you don't teach and reinforce positive traits in your children you may have to pay for it.

Vandals are held responsible for graffiti damage.

When vandals are caught, they are prosecuted.

Some vandals steal their paint.

Regardless of what you read at the Art Crimes web site, much of today's graffiti is indeed gang related (turf marking, drug oriented, or hate type) tag graffiti. Travel through any large communities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and even my little town of Pleasant Hill and it becomes quite obvious. Art Crimes is clueless. The number of persons actually interested in painting pretty pictures must be minuscule when compared to the amount of bad talent and gang graffiti out there. The gang vs artist debate is a smoke screen used to placate communities. Graffiti advocates want you to look the other way. The few who are not in gangs don't want you to feel concerned or frightened when a gang moniker or the tag from a violent crew appears on the power pole in front of your home. The graffiti advocate knows if you are concerned about the effects of graffiti, the "graffiti artist" down the street might get extra attention from the police. Tagging crews are a gang of sorts, since they are involved in illegal activity that can include theft of paint and markers from stores, violence against the public and other crews, as well as misdemeanor or felony vandalism. Graffiti vandals are indeed in gangs! Anyone who tells you otherwise is uninformed or is trying to deceive you.

Essential elements of a zero tolerance anti-graffiti effort are: 1) response time 2) wall-to-wall identical color matching, proven to reduce the odds of recurrence by as much as 900%, and 3) economics, the way your community decides to clean graffiti can reduce your community's over all abatement cost by selecting new technological advances in color matching. One major supplier of color matching technology is ProPaint Graffiti Systems.

You may never eliminate graffiti in your town but you can control it through abatement.

Coiled concertina wire (barbed wire) and huge rat guards protect freeway signs from graffiti vandalism in Southern, California. Ask the graffiti advocate if this ("tagging the heavens") really contributes to a beautiful community? Ask graffiti advocates if vandals falling from freeway over passes is part of the thrill. The vandal's relentless attacks on public property prompted this extreme action.

The anti-graffiti movement is a swelling grass roots cause consisting of persons in all occupations, socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and sexual backgrounds. We are conservatives, middle of the road, and liberals, of every color in the rainbow. We are not "right wing militia psychos" as one graffiti advocate characterizes us. We are committed to ending the tragedy of graffiti. We are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. We are grandmothers and grandfathers. We are families and civic groups. We are volunteers and businesses alike dedicated to ending this madness we call graffiti. We are tenacious. We are relentless. We never give up. We know the difference between graffiti and art. We care about our community and the people in it.

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What about business owners and graffiti?

When graffiti first appears, business owners often expect government to clean the damage. Remarkably, business does not consider abatement a cost of doing business. Business wants the police and city to fix the problem. Some business owners balk at graffiti ordinances and avoid cooperating. In the end, successful and enlightened business leaders set the mood and bring the laggards along with them. This can be a long and frustrating process. Their attitude will amaze you. It is particularly puzzling in today's conservative "less government is better" business environment. You quickly understand why we have rules for businesses to follow and why all of the rules can't be removed from the books. These same laggards will often be the ones lobbying against graffiti ordinances.

Businesses who do not abate graffiti attract the ire of the community and the official attention of the local government code enforcement officer.

Some businesses do not take graffiti code enforcement seriously, ever . It will take the support of the community and even court appearances to wake up some business owners. You will scratch your head and wonder why!

Some cities do clean graffiti from commercial property without charge to business owners.

Business owners who do not cooperate with anti-graffiti clean up efforts are not seen as responsible businesses in the community.

Business owners who go out of their way to help abate graffiti, attract the positive attention of the town in which they operate. Go out of your way to recognize responsible business owners as part of your abatement rewards program.

Business owners and managers need to establish a relationship with the community in which they work and participate in graffiti abatement advisory groups and Neighborhood Watch.

Graffiti is vandalism. Just like replacing a broken window, removing graffiti is part of the cost of doing business. Business owners begin to anger when the damage is repeated. Suddenly the cost of doing business becomes more than the business is willing to pay. When the the limits of their patience and pocket books is reached, some business owners feign any responsibility for removing graffiti. The business might say, "When I clean my walls or fix my windows is up to me. If you want it cleaned sooner do it for me!" They know better. They really do. This attitude is one major reason that has prompted the Anti-Graffiti ordinances being adopted nation wide.

The slackers in the business community might tell you that graffiti ordinances are "unfunded mandates." Some politicians sensitive to business interests will buy-in to this view point and vote against the ordinances. The unfunded mandate argument is irresponsible and not relevant. The "unfunded mandate" as they describe it, is part of the cost of doing business. Repairing a business was never anyone else's job, why now? The business that leaves the graffiti up does so because the owner is mad as hell. The owner is frustrated that the vermin responsible are never caught and punished. There is also a perception that police are not doing enough for the business owner e.g. catching the vandals. The cost of abatement eats up profits fast. Unfortunately, when the graffiti remains the graffiti gets worse and in the long run business gets worse as patrons stay away from a decaying neighborhood. As I see it business owners have two choices: 1) fight the blight now or 2) snooze and loose everything later. Your future is up to you!.

Is your business repeatedly attacked by graffiti vandals? Do like the neighborhoods do and form a Commercial Neighborhood Watch group. Form clean up committees and help each other remove the damage. Assume some responsibility for the immediate area around your business as well as responsibility for your own walls. Ask your customers in the neighborhood to help! Do you have 24 hour businesses in the area? Ask the employees of these stores to be mindful of the area and to call the police if suspicious activity is seen. Be creative! Watch out for each other! Join the abatement effort. It isn't easy, but then neither is running your business!

Do you want an excellent example of a business who cares about their town? The Pioneer Ford Community Service Program in Phoenix, AZ spends cash money keeping their neighborhood and other neighborhoods clean and graffiti free. These folks are example setters. They have crews that paint out graffiti within hours of it being reported. Private homes and business are eligible for the free service. For further information on this program contact the X-MAN at Pioneer Ford, 2600 W. Grand Ave., Phoenix, AZ. 85009. 602-257-1933.