Police receive help in graffiti cleanup

Ukiah,CA,USA

BY DAVID EDWARDS/The Daily Journal

When graffiti becomes a civic nuisance, who ya gonna call?

In response to that question, the Ukiah Police Department didn't place a call. It fielded one, in the form of a visit by local resident John McCowen.

That led to a partnership between McCowen and the UPD that has cleared the aerosol in Ukiah.

"(The graffiti) was getting to be right in your face, on Perkins Street, State Street," Sgt. Trent Taylor said. "It was pretty bad."

Starting in April, McCowen and Taylor have directed efforts to wipe out graffiti in town. Their informal task force is working. New cases of graffiti vandalism in Ukiah have dropped 62 percent since June.

On May 19, an officer arrested a 16-year-old suspect who was walking around 1 a.m. The suspect had paint on his hands, and had allegedly just spray-painted four spots.

Using a book Taylor had compiled, officers subsequently found 15 other places the suspect allegedly had vandalized with his identifying tag, the word "apex."

"This kid's now facing 19 counts of felony vandalism," Taylor said. "It's still in the adjudication process, but we expect to get a conviction, since he confessed and (was caught) pretty red-handed -- literally."

With the elimination of the Community Policing Team, the UPD lost its primary resource to combat graffiti inside the city limits. Dwindling manpower allowed police to respond only to reported incidents of graffiti.

Then McCowen did his best Ghostbusters impersonation. He offered his time and resources to assist police in ridding Ukiah of unwanted graffiti.

"It's pretty extraordinary the amount of work that he's done," Taylor said. "We know the hot spots. We look around every day and we're not seeing any others."

Graffiti falls into one of two categories: gang graffiti or tagger graffiti. Vandals spray-paint a distinctive message either to show off or to mark their territory.

Annie Reid, a spokeswoman for Eureka's Ink People Center for the Arts, said graffiti has grown into a worldwide art form, but it has received a bum rap in the United States because of its association with profanity and vandalism.

McCowen said he can accept graffiti that is in good taste, and he believes people should have a space available for graffiti art. But he takes action when self-expression crosses the line.

"I think graffiti sends the wrong message to our community," he said. "It causes urban blight and encourages gang activity. (People) shouldn't be defacing public and private property without permission."

That was happening in Ukiah, which had a nearly equal distribution of tagger and gang graffiti.

Nationwide studies have shown that rapid removal of graffiti is an effective deterrent. Vandals who know their message will quickly be erased lose the incentive to make their mark.

Taylor said unchecked graffiti invites others to follow suit. Taggers gravitate to the original message and add theirs to it, leaving a multi-colored mess in their wake.

McCowen plans to continue the cleanup for the foreseeable future. He downplayed his role in the success of the program, saying "I think there's a lot of room for credit here."