San Fernando Valley : Task Force Praised for Reducing Graffiti

They don’t carry guns or handcuffs. They don’t make arrests. Most of them are beyond retirement age for law enforcement jobs.

Yet, members of the Van Nuys-based Community Tagger Task Force have been credited with significantly reducing Valley tagging incidents since the group was created in 1993.

The task force has about 80 members who go through the time-intensive chore of photographing and filling out mountains of paperwork on graffiti found in their communities.

Their elaborate documentation allows police to link taggers to multiple vandalism incidents and obtain more serious convictions.

“I’m estimating a 35% reduction in graffiti since they’ve been active,” said LAPD Officer Jerry Beck.

The group’s efforts have led to the conviction of at least four adults and 17 youths for vandalism, police said.

Earlier this year, a 16-year-old convicted tagger on probation was rearrested when task force members recognized that he was using a new graffiti tag and linked him with earlier offenses, according to police.

Beck said the group’s vigilance has earned respect from the Police Department, and even some of the vandals.

“I’ve found that most taggers--the hard-core ones that have done a lot of damage--are saying, ‘You guys are now out there looking for us,’ ” Beck said. “Word travels in that community very fast.”

The task force will be honored today at a luncheon at the Japanese Gardens of the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. “The whole emphasis is just to thank these folks,” Beck said. “What they do is assist the police in an invaluable way.”