Meeting scheduled with Benicia Police Department

[meeting postponed until Wednesday,  February 25, 2009]

The Benicia Police Department has offered to meet with me to discuss Benicia's graffiti problem. Here are the issues that I plan to discuss at our meeting today (2-20-09) at 4pm. I will keep you advised of what transpires. Please email me with any other issues or questions that you would like me to raise. My email address is rsagun@sbcglobal.net

..Ross Sagun

2/20/09

Dear Officer Cruz:

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me later this afternoon to discuss Benicia's growing problem with graffiti. I am pleased that the Benicia Police Department has decided to appoint you as our Graffiti Officer.

So that we may make the best use of our time, here is a list of issues that I would like to discuss with you.

1. who is doing the graffiti
   
2. who has been arrested
   
3. who in city government is charged with overseeing the problem/strategy/budget of this problem
   
4. what is the rate of occurrence of graffiti crimes (how many have occurred in 2008 vs 2007)
   
5. what is the criteria for classifying incidents (incident number? How do Roger Core's reports get integrated into the stats?)
   
6. what is the cost of graffiti abatement and enforcement
   
7. what is the budget for graffiti abatement and enforcement
   
8. what is the status of the New Year's Day arrest at BHS
   
9. what happened at the X-Park and what is being done about it
   
10. what is the city's strategy to attack the problem
    
11. where are the graffiti hotspots in Benicia
    
12. when will the xpark be remediated and reopened
    
13. when are graffiti offenses being committed? (e.g. mostly at night?)
    
14. how does the BPD investigate and catalog graffiti offenses
    
15. how does the BPD process graffiti-based evidence (e.g. paint cans located at scenes, graffiti indicating specific names in its content)
    

I would also like to get your feedback on the following ideas:

1. the use of cameras to catch suspects, as other cities have successfully done
   
2. reward system
   
3. tip hotline
   
4. graffiti page on the website
   
5. school information program
   

Thanks again to you and BPD for being responsive to the community's concerns about this problem. I am looking forward to meeting with you later today.

..Ross Sagun

This says it all. Haven't we had enough of this nonsense?

Benicia needs the following NOW to stop this graffiti nonsense:

• a strengthened graffiti ordinance that punishes the perpetrators, not the victims
• a reward system for information leading to the arrest of taggers
• a tip hotline
• a website showing the latest tags and asking for information leading to the taggers
• a portable, covert camera system that can be easily relocated to graffiti/vandalism hotspots
• an anti-graffiti/vandalism awareness program in our schools
  
• making the arrest and conviction of taggers a priority, which is not now the case. Just ask: When was the last graffiti arrest?

Until we get serious about this problem, its only going to get worse.

..Ross Sagun

Massive Graffiti Attack at Benicia Community Park

It looks like Benicia's graffiti problem isn't going to go away anytime soon. Vandals hit the skateboard park at Benicia's Community Park within the last couple of days. The damage is so extensive that the facility has been closed, at least temporarily. It is anyone's guess as to when it will reopen. I went up there today to see the damage. There were a few people using it despite it being closed.

Removing this graffiti will be difficult, read EXPENSIVE. It can't be powerwashed because that will pit the surface, causing a dangerous condition for skateboarders. It has to be scrubbed off.

How much more money is going to be wasted while the City of Benicia contemplates getting serious about stopping this graffiti? I've heard one estimate that Benicia is probably spending about $40,000 in abatement costs annually. Say, that's about 80 times the cost of a cheap camera system and about 16 times the cost of a professional system used by other cities. Maybe Benicia doesn't suffer from the same budget woes that everyone else is experiencing. Who knows?

Isn't it curious that the City cares enough about the recycling dumpster at the Corp Yard off E. 2nd St. to put up 3, yes 3, surveillance cameras, but so far none have been planned for the graffiti problem? I guess the dumpster is a higher priority, and for that I am truly disappointed.

..Ross Sagun