Graffiti by Any Other Name Still a 'Nuisance'

By Josh Premako
Senior Staff Writer

Wednesday September 13, 2006

They usually work under cover of night, their weapon of choice a can of spray paint.

Some call them taggers, vandals, gang members or alienated rich kids, but the issue's the same - no matter what the label - to Valerie Hill, graffiti abatement manager for Los Angeles County.

"I consider it the same," she said. "For you and I on the street ... it's all a nuisance."

Over the last several years, Hill said the nature of graffiti has changed, in that it is showing up in places where it was never seen in the past, such as Stevenson Ranch.

There are three keys to battling graffiti, she said: a good abatement program, education and enforcement.

Passionate about keeping communities graffiti-free, she said county policy is to clean up graffiti within 48 hours, the same standard adopted by the city of Santa Clarita.

"It's way worse," city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said of graffiti vandalism over the last several years. So far in 2006, she said there has been a 300 percent increase in incidents over last year. "We're spending a whole lot more money."

In addition to full-time graffiti abatement coordinator Ryan Wasson, the city employs four part-time staff members devoted to eradicating graffiti, plus a host of community volunteers.

Over the last several months, the city has also made use of a surveillance vehicle, which Wasson said has been successfully used to catch several vandals in the act.

Detective Dan Finn of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station's COBRA unit said there has been a marked increase in graffiti over the last six months. "We're seeing more youth offenders who have no gang relationship," he said.

In fact, he said a number of taggers have no criminal history and come from stable, high-income families.

There are essentially five types of graffiti, said Detective Bob Schneider: gang-related, vandalism by "tagging crews," racist, political and communicative - "your 'Joanie loves Chachi' graffiti."

He said a key to cutting back on graffiti is community involvement, especially from those who may witness vandals in the act and hesitate to report it because of a fear of retribution.

The shift in graffiti vandalism from gang identification to subculture has been influenced in many ways by the media and has led to an urbanization of suburbia, said David Diaz, professor of urban and Chicano studies at California State University, Northridge.

"Young people are trying to mimic something that they aren't," he said. "There are young people that are alienated and are looking for direction, and for some of them graffiti art is an outlet."

To address the issue, Diaz said communities need to take steps toward providing young people with options, alternatives and outlets for expressing themselves and staying out of trouble.