ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : The People Versus Graffiti

The graffiti issue is proving to be ugly, expensive and visceral, prompting outrage throughout Orange County. Fortunately, it is gaining recognition from government agencies that rightly are taking steps to crack down on “taggers.”

For example, Orange, which may have to lay off dozens of workers to balance its budget, has approved a $200,000 graffiti cleanup and enforcement program. Santa Ana has budgeted $1.2 million for graffiti removal, an increase of nearly 50% over last year.

Thirteen Orange County cities recently have passed new laws or stiffened penalties. They were right to do so and to take advantage of the state Supreme Court decision last February upholding a Los Angeles ordinance. That law required that spray paint and markers favored by graffiti vandals be put behind counters or on locked shelves, where they can be seen but not bought without a salesperson’s help.

The law certainly hasn’t stopped tagging, any more than banning the sale of spray paint to minors cleaned things up, but it’s a useful tool. Another warranted move was a judge’s sentencing of an Anaheim graffiti vandal to perform 500 hours of community service, including painting over graffiti. That may seem like a lot of hours, but not when you hear the mayor of Anaheim muse that “maybe it’s time to bring back the public stockades” for vandals.

While gang members scrawl graffiti to mark turf, taggers with no gang ties spray their initials across neighborhoods to gain recognition. These violations are being met increasingly with community outrage: After one Tustin woman found graffiti on her wall, almost all her neighbors dropped by to express sympathy and alarm, even before she could paint it over that night.

Some cities are now holding taggers’ parents responsible for their children’s vandalism. Because of the ease with which a child can slip beyond a parent’s control, that’s a tool to be used judiciously. Still, involved parents, plus tougher laws and enforcement, can help stem the tide. Such a combined effort will enable cities to spend money on better things than cleanups and let police get back to more important work.