Is there any money to fight graffiti and vandalism, or just bus shelters?

The City of Benicia has asked for their share of President Obama's stimulus package pie. Admittedly, many of these requests have merit. But, don't you think the City should reserve just a little bit of that money to fight Benicia's graffiti and vandalism problem? Do you think the battle to keep our neighborhood's safe and blight-free might just be a higher priority than bus shelters?

Now, I'm not suggesting that the the idea of funding bus shelters should be thrown out. What I am saying is this: Is it just lip service when the City keeps telling us that there is no money for graffiti cameras? I hope not.

I've done just a little research on this and have found camera solutions costing as little as $300. That's right... $300!! How much is a bus shelter? And besides, I will take bets that the proposed bus shelters will be victimized by vandalism and graffiti, costing much more than $300.

Where is the Benicia City Council's priorities? It will soon be "show time". Time tells all...time to put their money where their collective mouths are.

..Ross Sagun

from the Times-Herald:



So far, the city has applied for:

* $400,000 to resurface East Second Street from Lake Herman Road to west of Park Road;

* $4 million to develop a water reuse project for the Valero refinery;

* $2 million to install an ionic exchange system to cleanse the city's drinking water;

* $130,000 to create a Sky Valley rainwater management plan to help keep pollution out of Benicia's water supply.

Other projects the city hopes to identify or secure funds for include a new police station, more police officers, fire station renovations, a hiking trail, a bus shelter and a library expansion project, among other things.

Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
Times Herald

Stakeouts aim to curb graffiti

By Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer 3/18/09

San Francisco officials say they have seen an increase in complaints about graffiti. Examiner file photo SAN FRANCISCO – Police are turning to stakeouts in order to nab graffiti vandals.

The City has seen an uptick in complaints about graffiti, specifically to the 311 call center.

A series of stake-out operations are planned between the California Highway Patrol and the Police Department. The law enforcement agencies are targeting overpasses and freeway signs after a series of bold vandalism incidents on Highway 101.

“It’s costing The City millions,” said Mohammed Nuru, the Department of Public Works deputy director, who oversees graffiti cleanup for The City. “They’re using climbing gear. They’re sophisticated and climbing up sheer surfaces.”

After averaging about 1,400 calls a month, that number climbed in December to more than 3,000. Those calls have continued to roll in at a steady pace, and city officials want to catch the vandals in the act.

Officer Christopher Putz of the San Francisco Police Department’s graffiti unit said he believes the increase is not in graffiti incidents, but in citizen reporting of the vandalism.

Nuru is heading a graffiti task force, which is lobbying to pass even stricter policies regarding graffiti in upcoming months, including a law prohibiting spray-painted vehicles from parking in a residential area and creating a Superior Court position that deals strictly with vandalism cases.

Other cities have installed barbed wire around posts so they are more difficult to climb. Nuru said they hope to catch the recent vandals before turning San Francisco into a “prison yard.”

The hardest-hit areas are the Financial District, SoMa, the Mission and Chinatown, according to authorities. Some neighborhood advocates said they have not noticed the increase.

“I haven’t seen a huge difference than what it was,” said Erick Arguello, who heads the Lower 24th Street Merchant and Neighborhood Association. “It comes and goes, just like crime.”

Keith Goldstein, who heads the Potrero Hill Merchants Association, said he recently followed up on a complaint about graffiti, but didn’t find an increase in his neighborhood.

City officials are also looking to boost the reward amount for information about graffiti vandals.

The City’s Graffiti Rewards Fund typically offers residents $250 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects. However, the reward has been boosted to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who took part in defacing highway signs last weekend on southbound Highway 101 at Third and Bayshore streets.

To apply for the reward, visit www.sfgov.org/dpw or call 311.

Surge in graffiti complaints

From July to November, graffiti complaints to The City’s 311 call center averaged about 1,400 per month.

Month Complaints
December 3,066
January 3,396
February 2,668
Through March 17 1,681

Source: Department of Public Works

bbegin@sfexaminer.com

One City Council Rises to the Occasion

Anti-graffiti ordinance approved by Grover Beach City Council

Posted: March 17, 2009 10:47 AM

Monday, March 16, 2009

Reported by: Emily Kiefer

Leaders in Grover Beach are working to keep the city cleaner.

Monday night, the city council unanimously approved a proposal for an updated graffiti ordinance. It's designed to replace the ordinance already in place.

Among some of the changes:

• The new measure will call for graffiti to be removed within 72 hours instead of 15 days.
• A clearer plan for graffiti prevention, including education in the community and schools.
• And a reward system for reporting offenders.

A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for April 6. It will then go into effect 30 days later.

Cameras help catch graffiti vandals

Arrest in case of Staten Island graffiti vandal caught on camera

Alleged vandal arrested less than a day after video is posted on silive

Saturday, March 14, 2009

By FRANK DONNELLY

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 15-year-old alleged graffiti vandal was arrested yesterday, less than 24 hours after a video of him defacing a Concord deli was posted on silive.com, the Advance's home on the Web.

Police said those images, captured by high-tech security cameras at My Deli & Grocery on Rhine Avenue, along with other information, helped them track down the suspect.

The video first appeared on silive.com around 2:45 p.m. Thursday and still photos ran in yesterday's Advance.

Authorities did not release the suspect's name, or neighborhood, due to his age. He was charged with single counts of criminal mischief and making graffiti, said Detective Joseph Cavitolo, an NYPD spokesman.

The arrest came on the same day a graffiti scourge from Midland Beach was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay $5,000 restitution. Joseph Battaglia, 19, was accused of plastering his tag, "Rank," or an abbreviated version, "Ra," in 75 different incidents since January 2007. Battaglia pleaded guilty in January to two misdemeanor counts.

"This shows how working together helps make our neighborhoods a better place to live," Hamim (Shah) Syed, who owns My Deli & Grocery, said yesterday. "We appreciate all the work the police and the Staten Island Advance did and we are glad they apprehended the young man who was responsible for the graffiti. While we feel sorry for his parents, we hope he learns a lesson from this experience and chooses a more positive path in the future."

Two weeks ago, Syed installed four video cameras as part of $9,000 spent on renovations, which included repainting the building.

The security cameras allegedly caught the youth in the act of spray-painting an indecipherable tag on the side of the building early Wednesday morning.

The video shows a hooded male with a backpack skulking around the store exterior about 12:45 a.m. After a few cars have passed, he pulls out a can of spray paint and defaces a wall behind an ice box. Then he walks away.

According to Syed, the vandal also sprayed graffiti on the side of the building facing a neighboring business, All Tire Repair Shop, but that crime was committed off-camera.

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

They are back! Graffiti vandals strike again.

The graffiti vandals are at it again. This is about the 5th time my brick wall has been hit. Last week it was the tunnel, again.

When is the City of Benicia going to get serious about stopping this activity? How many more times is the City going to have to repaint the tunnel? How many more police reports are going to have to be taken? There were no less than 50 new graffiti tags that popped up over the holiday, according to the City.

When is the City of Benicia, specifically the Benicia City Council, going to finally do the right thing...that is, put up a camera? I say the time is NOW. The cost is minimal - potentially less than $300. I will volunteer the use of my property. The City has $20,000 to spend on Harleys. How about a couple of hundred to stop this vandalism?

Come on folks...step up to the plate and do the right thing for us. Let's face it...its not going to go away unless we take action.