School officials and police debate best way to fight graffiti
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer



MONTEBELLO - Police and school officials are at odds over how best to combat teenage graffiti taggers.

Montebello Unified School District officials said they want to focus on education programs to dissuade taggers.

Police officials want school administrators' permission to search hallways and lockers. Generally, they are seeking a stronger police presence on campuses.

Both sides, however, said they hope to come to an agreement soon.

"We are concentrating on the areas of intervention and prevention," said Robert Henke, assistant superintendent for pupil and community services for Montebello Unified, adding officials are providing counseling and after-school programs aimed at deterring graffiti.

He said officials "would prefer" police not go onto campuses to make arrests "unless they have to."

Montebello police Detective Ismael Navarro said many taggers attend city schools, and police want to make it clear to them that they cannot bring spray paint and graffiti markers to class.

"The schools are like a safe haven for taggers," he said. "They're in possession of graffiti implements and narcotics while they're in school. This is where they hide. They know they can keep it in there."

Navarro said he believes the schools would benefit by allowing occasional searches by drug-sniffing dogs and letting officers interview students if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that a student is a tagger.

School and some city officials, however, said they want police to first have "probable cause," or a search warrant, before interviewing tagging suspects on school grounds.

The difference between the two involves evidence. To meet the probable cause requirement, officers must have hard evidence against a student who has been tagging, but reasonable suspicion requires only that police have some evidence in order to search the person.

"If your kid isn't involved in any criminal element, we're not going to search them," said Navarro. "But if we do have things that constitute reasonable suspicion," officers would want to search

them, he said.

Montebello Mayor Bob Bagwell said he worries about police having too great a presence on campuses.

"I don't like witch hunts," said Bagwell. "I think that's an infringement on everyone's civil rights."

He said he believes officers should first get a search warrant before contacting students on campus.

Martha Hernandez, 53, lives near Montebello High School and said she believes the police should be able to come onto the campus to pursue taggers.

"Graffiti is all down this alley. They graffiti the people on the street right next to the school," Hernandez said. "I've lived here all my life and it's getting worse.

"I think police should go in the schools and arrest them and make the parents liable. How else are the students going to learn?"

Former Montebello High School student Caesar Cervin, 18, said police should not arrest taggers on campus.

"School is the only environment they feel comfortable in," said Cervin. "They're going to feel like they are pursued by cops everywhere they go."

Bagwell said he plans to meet with both school and police officials this week to try to come to an agreement on the issue.

"The district is looking at being cooperative in the areas of intervention and prevention," said Henke.

"Montebello police are looking at suppression," he added. "The Police Department has their role, and therein lies the challenge - to meld those together to make the most effective method to a common goal, which is eradicating graffiti."

sandy.mazza@sgvn.com

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