Anaheim Hiring Reserve Officers to Arrest Taggers

To bolster the fight against graffiti vandals, the City Council this week approved a $25,000 pilot program to hire reserve and retired police officers and part-time code enforcement officers to conduct stakeouts in blighted neighborhoods.

Under the three-month program, two officers daily will hide near walls that are frequent targets of graffiti taggers in hopes of making arrests. They will be equipped with a video camera to tape the vandals. The tapes will be used as evidence in any prosecutions.

At the conclusion of the trial period, the council will decide whether to make the program permanent.

“I hope this will send a clear message to taggers that we’re coming after you,” said Councilman Frank Feldhaus on Tuesday after the council unanimously approved the program.

Feldhaus had last month proposed hiring a private security firm to conduct anti-graffiti patrols, but city officials said the city’s own retired, part-time and reserve officers could do a better job at similar cost.

Retired police officers will receive $17.69 an hour for working in the program. Part-time code enforcement officers will receive $15.04 an hour and reserve police officers will be paid $10 an hour. Security firms told the city they would charge between $11 and $22 an hour per guard.

The city had been getting 130 reports of graffiti a week earlier this year, but the frequency recently returned to last year’s level of 100 reports a week. Police said there are at least 95 identified “tagging crews” or graffiti gangs in the city; that’s up from five a early last year.

The city spends $250,000 a year on graffiti cleanup, which is supplemented by a corps of volunteers who paint out graffiti each weekend using donated supplies.

The city pays $500 rewards to anyone who offers information leading to the arrest and conviction of a graffiti vandal.