VAN NUYS : Stores Warned About Spray Paint Access

Cooperation between community residents and the Los Angeles Police Department is putting a crimp in graffiti vandals’ access to the tools of their trade.

In the last month, reserve police Officer Ivor Alan-Lee has issued warnings to three San Fernando Valley stores that did not restrict customers’ access to spray paint as required by a city ordinance.

In two cases, the LAPD was tipped off by citizens.

In one case involving the Home Base at 12727 Sherman Way, two residents said that on separate occasions they visited the store and informed staff members about the law.

Their efforts met with little results, they say, until they notified the Community Tagger Task Force--an LAPD unit that works to combat graffiti in the Valley.

Mary Clayton, a Toluca Lake resident who recently started a graffiti-removal program, said she saw rows of paint canisters on shelves and in display stacks at Home Base that were readily accessible to customers

“I said, ‘How come you have so much black paint? Is that because that’s what the taggers use the most?’ ” Clayton said. “The employee said, ‘All I know is we go through it a lot. They come in every day after school to buy it.’ ”

“Children do not come in here with any type of frequency,” said Home Base Assistant Manager Jim Kornacki, adding that the store does not sell spray paint to minors.

He said the store management recently bought locking display cases.

Alan-Lee said he delivered a warning to Orchard Supply Hardware at 5960 Sepulveda Blvd., which stored its paint behind a counter, and an informal advisory to the Home Depot at 16810 Roscoe Blvd. to keep its metal display cages locked.

Failure to comply within 14 days of a formal warning is a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, said LAPD Detective Craig Rhudy, who heads the tagger task force.

Rhudy estimated there are 400 stores that sell spray paint in the Valley and that fewer than 10% do not comply with the law.

His unit is about to begin a crackdown on graffiti markings, which continue to be a big problem in the Valley, the detective said.

“Anybody who finds an establishment selling spray paint or marker pens, which are not locked up . . . then we’d like to know about it,” he said. “We’ll make sure someone goes out and make sure they lock up, so they can be in compliance.”