South Bay : Gardena Hit by Increase in Graffiti, Most of It at Warehouse Store

A major increase in graffiti last month in Gardena was concentrated around a large home improvement warehouse store.

In November, 42,895 square feet of graffiti were removed from Gardena walls, more than double the average monthly total. Bernie Paine, street superintendent of Gardena, said the increase was due to an unusual rash of non-gang graffiti near the Home Base store on Vermont Avenue near Rosecrans Avenue. Detective Ken Mulroney of the Gardena Police Department speculated that the increase might have been caused by the extra school days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The November figures, up from October’s 17,395 square feet, brought the yearly total to more then 287,000 square feet of graffiti removed.

The Gardena program of removing graffiti within 24 hours of a report is one of the models the city of Los Angeles has looked to as it attempts to implement a zero-tolerance policy on graffiti.

The most glaring contrast between the graffiti situation in Gardena and Los Angeles is along Vermont Avenue near Gardena Boulevard. On the west side of Vermont, which is in Gardena, the walls are bare, while across the street in Los Angeles, graffiti scars many of the buildings.

The Gardena graffiti hot line number is (310) 217-9650.