Tougher Sentences Urged for Graffiti 2nd Offenses

In response to a spike in graffiti citywide, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to require second-time offenders to serve mandatory jail or community service terms.

Most graffiti offenders are now sentenced to community service, Martin Vranicar Jr., assistant city attorney, said.

The city’s legislative analyst’s office will draft the proposal and submit it to the Legislature in January, Vranicar said.

The motion passed 10 to 2, amending a proposal by Councilman Hal Bernson to increase penalties for repeat violations.

“We’re going to have to have the courts in the state impose tougher sentences on repeat offenders,” Bernson said.

Bernson said his proposal was in response to “a 50% increase in graffiti since the first of the year throughout the city.”

Councilman Nate Holden, who opposed the original proposal, said he believed current state law is already tough enough.

Proposition 21, passed in March, allowed the district attorney discretion to charge a defendant with a felony if damage in a single incident is more than $400.

The proposition also raised the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor from six months to one year in county jail. The maximum $1,000 fine remained unchanged.

Holden suggested the change approved by the council with Bernson’s support.