Anti-Graffiti Plan Targets Pacoima Park

A Pacoima park--where scrawls of gang names and insignia mar sidewalks, trees and every wall of a recreation center--is the target of a tough anti-graffiti program that will include undercover police patrols, officials announced Thursday.

Los Angeles police say that the writing on the walls at Roger Jessup Park on Osborne Street shows that the gang Latin Times Paca, slang for Pacoima, has taken over the area, making it dangerous for residents to visit.

“They are like dogs spraying their scent,” said Capt. Valentino Paniccia, pointing out the names “Cholo I” and “Cholo II” painted on the wall. “They are saying we control this area. It’s serious.”

Special Surveillance

Councilman Ernani Bernardi has turned over $10,000 from his office budget to pay for special police surveillance outside normal patrols. The money for the patrols is expected to last at least two months, Paniccia said. He would not say how many additional officers will patrol the park or at what hours they will work.

Those convicted of painting graffiti will be sentenced to long hours with a paintbrush to cover sprayed-on vandalism, said judges cooperating with the program. It is a misdemeanor to deface a wall with graffiti.

The attraction of painting graffiti will diminish after repeated arrests of violators, officials predicted. “They are going to be afraid of being arrested,” Paniccia said.

On Thursday morning, several youths already serving graffiti-removing sentences rolled brown paint over the cinder-block wall of the park’s recreation center.

“It’s disgusting,” Bernardi said “We’re going to get rid of this once and for all.”

The city attorney’s office has agreed to prosecute the cases, and municipal and juvenile court judges said they will come down hard on the guilty with sentences of as many as 300 hours of community service.

“Since they enjoy painting so much, we will give them the opportunity to paint--and a lot of it,” said Judge Michael S. Luros of San Fernando Municipal Court.

The Osborne Street park, next to Whiteman Airport, long has been marred by gang graffiti.

Tall Images

In 1985, an artist painted 7-foot-tall images of several Latin Times Paca gang members on the wall, theorizing that others would not dare deface the images.

But three years later, florescent red eyes the size of traffic lights glowed from one of the likenesses. Gang graffiti covered the rest of the image.

As the youths tried to wipe away the tangle of graffiti using paint remover, Paniccia said that the markings “just show you these people have no respect, even for their own.”

One youth, a 16-year-old North Hollywood boy, frowned at his 50-hour community service sentence. He said he had been arrested three times for spraying his nickname on walls, an action called “tagging” or “hitting up.”

“You want everyone to see your name, then you can tell all your friends that’s you up there,” he said. “If you want the truth, graffiti will never stop.”