Graffiti Vandals

In response to “Tagging Society With a Headache,” editorial, March 2:

The cost of tagging is indeed enormous. Sadly, it is usually the poorest communities that suffer most from this vandalism. Many cities have good laws on the books such as assigning cleanup community service for those caught tagging, making owners maintain their properties, assigning criminal fines for those caught tagging, and holding the parents financially responsible for damages.

Sadly, many of these ordinances have no teeth. Penalties are usually a slap on the wrist, causing those who are caught to laugh at the system. Serious fines would raise some money for cleanup efforts, and penalties of a thousand hours or more of cleanup work for offenders and their parents would be a step in the right direction.

A lot of tagging can be cleaned up with a thousand hours of work, and after enough time is spent cleaning and painting, perhaps these offenders might begin to contribute to the community rather than tearing it down.

EDWARD LEWIS

Dominguez Hills