Countywide : Graffiti Vandalism Down, Reports Show

The Board of Supervisors will be presented today with reports from agencies throughout the county indicating that costly graffiti vandalism is on the decrease in Orange County.

“The numbers, I think, confirmed that the many different plans put into effect are bearing good fruit,” said county graffiti abatement coordinator Chaz Ferguson. “But they also confirmed that we’re not out of the woods yet. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

The package of data--which includes statistics, reports and surveys--shows a generally downward trend in the year-old battle against tagging, the fad that exploded in popularity in late 1992 and early 1993 and costs local agencies more than $4 million to clean up.

A sampling of the results:

* The most dramatic numbers came from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which reports a 68% decline in graffiti incidents on buses from February, 1993, through January, 1994.

* In a survey of police agencies countywide, 11 noted a decrease in graffiti, while three said the vandalism was on the rise. Seven observed no change or mixed results, while one agency reported it had no records to support any conclusion. The report did not specify which agencies made which responses.

* The county Environmental Management Agency reports that cleanup efforts have been broadened and accelerated. The backlog of graffiti in July, 1993, was about 327,000 square feet, a total that shrunk to 133,000 square feet by January, 1994.

EMA officials said they hope to have a 24- to 48-hour response time for cleanup crews when the backlog has been wiped out. “The program has clearly been a success to date,” the report states.

* District attorney’s office statistics showed that last April was the busiest month for graffiti prosecutions, with 232 cases filed, reflecting the surge in tagging at the beginning of 1993.

The number of cases has fluctuated since that peak, but in six of nine monthly reports, the totals have gone down from the previous month. A jump in cases in January is attributed to a slight increase in tagging activities that officials attribute to the new school year reuniting tagging crew members with their cohorts.

During the period from March, 1993, through January, 1994, prosecutors filed 1,237 graffiti cases, only 67 requiring a trial, the rest ending in guilty pleas. Of those that went to trial, 75% ended with a guilty verdict.

Some of the numbers that will be presented to the supervisors are hardly scientific, Ferguson conceded, but rather are based on impressions and anecdotes of assorted agency officials.

He said, however, they are evidence that taggers are being deterred by stepped-up enforcement efforts, tougher penalties and quicker cleanup campaigns.