In the past week, we’ve been talking here on WSB about a recent wave of graffiti/tagging vandalism in the Alki/Beach Drive areas, including railings and bulkhead concrete in this area just south of Alki Point (deliberately shot wide so as not to showcase the tags), reported by Betsy the other day:

We’ve also received word of a particularly ugly tag, one of those crowns, thrown up on the restroom building at Whale Tail Park. There is on occasion some headway made against these crimes, such as the tale of two tweens caught in the act (noted briefly here). But invariably, these vandalism reports come in with the question, what to do about it, and who to call? Comment #5 from LGS below last Friday’s post has the detailed information, excerpted here:

Always paint it out ASAP – don’t give graffiti vandals the satisfaction of having more than a few people see it.

Before painting the graffiti out:

a) Photograph it

b) When graffiti appears on your property, call the police and ask to file a report over the phone on the non-emergency line, 206-625-5011. This will be helpful in case of potential prosecution. If the graffiti is on property other than your own, report it to the Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) Graffiti and Illegal Dumping Hotline, at 206-684-7587, or online at: www2.seattle.gov/util/forms/graffiti/graffitiForm.asp. If you see an act of graffiti vandalism in progress, call 911.

c) If you see a particular tag appearing all over the neighborhood, talk to your SW Precinct Community Police Team officer. Call 615-1976 or 233-5067 (weekdays) to get in contact with the CPT officer for your area. Providing photos and specific details will help officers track the prolific taggers.

d) If you suspect youth are responsible, provide photos/copies of the graffiti to administration at nearby middle and high schools. School employees are familiar with the favorite symbols kids use over and over on their papers, books and other personal items. In the past, some kids doing lots of graffiti have been caught this way.

e) Consider using protective sprays and films on vulnerable surfaces in the future. Films are made for window glass, sprays and coatings for painted, masonry and other surfaces. Anti-Graffiti protectants can make it more difficult for graffiti to adhere to a surface and easier and/or less costly to remove graffiti.