7 Tagged Out in Sheriff’s Graffiti Sting

By posing as a British film company seeking taggers for a television video, sheriff’s detectives were hoping to nab a few vandals who had been prolific in plastering graffiti on Metro Rail Blue Line trains and facilities.

But more than 60 hopeful performers, unabashedly boasting of their talents, flocked to the supposed “auditions,” held upstairs in a shabby two-story brick building in a downtown Long Beach redevelopment area. Taggers learned about the auditions, held over a period of two months, from flyers distributed around town by undercover officers.

On Tuesday, Long Beach police arrested seven of the would-be performers as a result of the sting, including three believed responsible for thousands of dollars in vandalism to trains and stations along the 22-mile Blue Line from the Long Beach Harbor through South-Central Los Angeles into downtown.

The youths, six boys and a girl ages 14 to 16, were released to their parents. Their identities were not revealed because of their ages.

Tapes on the others are being turned over to law enforcement officials for further investigation, said Deputy John Maxwell, who led the investigation by the sheriff’s Transit Service Bureau.

Details of the sting were revealed at a press conference Wednesday held in offices of the fake film company, Consolidated Continental Films. Walls and ceilings of a narrow stairwell leading to the second floor of the building were covered with graffiti--the spontaneous work of those intent on proving their talents to those they believed to be casting agents.

Undercover officers passed out flyers seeking “Taggers, Bombers, Writers” for a “video to be shown on British TV.” Those who answered the call were given a questionnaire to determine if they were familiar with a list of terms used by graffiti vandals, such as “bombing”--a painting spree from one end of the county to the other.

Those who could prove their familiarity with the jargon were then extensively tested and videotaped as they explained why they create graffiti, where they get their supplies, how “painting crews” operate and why certain targets are selected.

Maxwell said the sting operation provides new insight into the character and motivation of taggers.

“We gathered a lot of information,” he said. “Most taggers are heavily involved with petty theft and they go on to become the gangs. For a lot of them, tagging is addictive.”

Investigators said they learned that most taggers steal almost all of their paints and supplies, usually from outside Los Angeles County, because local retailers and suppliers have beefed up security on such items. Vandals travel to Orange County, San Bernardino and even as far away as San Diego to steal supplies, Maxwell said.

At one point during the sting operation, about 20 youths appeared simultaneously at the undercover offices and attempted to out-paint one another all over the walls and ceilings, Maxwell said. Some youths even attempted to climb out the second-floor windows to paint the outside of the building, which is owned by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency.

A video, filmed during the operation and starring the taggers, is expected to be distributed next year as a training film for law enforcement agencies throughout the country, said Sgt. Robert Stoneman of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.