Measures for Making Life Tough for Taggers : The mounting human and monetary toll is hurting everyone. Culprits must be taught the crime is no joke. They should be forced to pay the price in time and money.

Add to robbery, drugs, prostitution and gangs another threat to the quality of life in the Southland: a New Wave graffiti sport called tagging.

This latest crime craze among teens may at first glance seem benign when compared to violent crime and drug dealing. A closer look at the cost in both human and monetary terms shows it to be unacceptably high.

Violence between rival tagger gangs has claimed the lives of 15 teens in the last year. In the previous year, there were no deaths attributed to taggers.

The source of contention between tagger gangs lies in the frequency of their graffiti contests, called battles. Tagging battles are multiplying too fast for law enforcement agencies to handle.

Graffiti cleanup costs millions of dollars. The Los Angeles bus system spends more than $14 million a year to combat and erase graffiti. Caltrans spends more than $2 million.

Hidden costs are rising sharply. In otherwise fine neighborhoods, the presence of graffiti can drive down the value of individual homes by 10% to 30%. Perhaps worse, prospective buyers are driven away because graffiti suggests the presence of drugs and gangs.

Meanwhile, tagging distracts police officers from more serious crimes, and budgets are pinched. Finding money to combat a new crime like tagging creates tough choices.

Still, there is hope we can slow the activity of tagging gangs. Local and state government realize the seriousness of the problem. A number of anti-graffiti groups have been formed, and anti-tagging legislation is beginning to move through the Assembly.

Though no one solution will clear up the problem of tagging, there are a number of actions that can help us regain control of the appearance of our neighborhoods.

* Increase the maximum fine a judge can impose on taggers or their parents or both to $5,000.

* Increase the community service hours to a minimum of 100 hours for first-time offenders, more for repeaters.

* Allow judges to order taggers and their parents to spend weekends removing graffiti.

* Confiscate vehicles used in transporting taggers, and auction them to provide money to clean up graffiti while neutralizing the transportation of tagger gangs.

* Establish county and inter-county communication links for law enforcement officers to share information on tagging gangs.

* Increase maximum penalties for the failure of juveniles to show up for community service to $250 and a month in a juvenile penitentiary.

* Allow cities and counties that put taggers to work cleaning up graffiti to charge parents for the cost of insurance for such work.

* Allow the names of taggers to be released for publication in local newspapers at the discretion of local law enforcement.

Some of these suggestion are already a part of legislation moving into the Assembly, and they are a good start at establishing a viable deterrent to graffiti vandalism.

Perhaps the most important step we can take to combat tagging is for parents to become more involved in the lives of their children.

Parents can check clothing for paint stains, check rooms for spray paint cans and caps, be aware of community curfew laws and keep track of children’s whereabouts.

It’s time to tag the taggers. With concerted effort, the reign of taggers will soon end.