West Seattle Blog… | West Seattle Crime Watch: Graffiti arrests

Egigik February 18, 2010 (5:23 am)

What ever happened to my west Seattle? No wonder people living in other neighborhoods are calling this the ghetto.

ltfd February 18, 2010 (6:10 am)

Suggestion- caning.

mark February 18, 2010 (6:57 am)

I like the Caning idea, but prefer the police just carry a cigar cutter and remove the digit used to tag with. They might have to be caught 10 times before they finally give it up, but it would be very effective. Then again, if they actually forced them to clean up what they did, with a 10X penalty enforced them might get the hint as well.

West Seattle is my home February 18, 2010 (7:04 am)

Love the enthusiasm. I agree, the perps should have to scrub the walls and whatnot until clean. No exceptions.

Pete February 18, 2010 (7:50 am)

Egigik…who is calling West Seattle “the ghetto”? They obviously are living in a glass house. In case you have not been paying attention….this problem is not isolated to West Seattle but is a problem across Seattle and the country.

Que February 18, 2010 (7:50 am)

Egigik – If people are calling this the ghetto, it is either because they have never been here, or they have never been to the ghetto.

Everyone has to deal with taggers. Graffiti has been around for as long as we have had walls. It is just a question of what we do with it.

samson February 18, 2010 (7:52 am)

well, to be honest as I have to agree with Egigik as different neighborhoods call West Seattle ghetto and throw the negatives on this neighborhood about crimes. WHY IS WEST SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD BEING VICTIMIZED? dont police noticed that the crime has gone up ever since! Cars, homes, purse snatching, guns! what’s so SPECIAL about West Seattle?! I am reconsidering my location now!!! Thanks to these XXX thugs, gangs, robbers!!!! who do you think which town is next?? Get a life whoever read this and laugh at this thats why they have a job as “robber” and earn a little money as West Seattle has money to pay for. thats what you (robbers)are looking for uh-uh!! SPIT IT OUT!!!

Mike February 18, 2010 (8:09 am)

West Seattle is not ‘the’ ghetto. I’ve never had my car vandalized here, but when I lived on Queen Anne, my car was broken into and items stolen… in a secured parking garage no less.

As for graffiti, I’m fine with that. As for tagging, not so much. Tagging and Graffiti are two separate things. Now if graffiti is done on a wall of business or residence and was not paid for by the owner of said location, then that’s bad. However, I actually enjoy the graffiti under the bridge in Schmitz Park, the tagging is ugly though.

bridge to somewhere February 18, 2010 (8:15 am)

i’m glad they were caught at least.

Aa February 18, 2010 (8:20 am)

I especially miss the beautiful graffiti cat that adorned a small screen-fence on Admiral between the WS bridge and the viewpoint. My daughters shrieked in horror upon discovering it had been covered up with ugly brown paint. Since that time, the slabs have been repainted several times, as taggers now see the empty space as an open invitation to spray.

Thistle February 18, 2010 (8:26 am)

Just for the record – I am really getting tired of how lightly the word “ghetto” gets thrown around – so our neighborhood (and Capitol Hill, Ballard, Fremont, Belltown and just about ever other neighborhood that my friends and colleagues work/live in) have perceived increase in crime and tagging – does that mean that West Seattle is now going into a dark spiral of decay – that we should all run out of town because we are now being overwhelmed by the criminally minded? Really? I have spent time in Oakland, Baltimore, L.A., cities that have some truly crime ridden areas that are often ignored or just overwhelmed –believe me West Seattle is hardly a “ghetto”. Last time I checked, people still look each other in the eye and say good morning when they pass each other on California on their way to a coffee shop with their dogs. Out parks are as safe during the day as one can expect in a city – there are not vast amounts of needles and garbage strung throughout our ally ways…. I am not making light of the crime that HAS happened recently but really lets put this in perspective and start taking the time to address what is still a relatively accessible and manageable issue while we can and quite making flippant comments about how our home, our neighborhood, is a “ghetto”.

SarahScoot February 18, 2010 (8:42 am)

Ditto Thistle, and same with the word “‘hood.” I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and assume people don’t realize how offensive these terms really are. Here’s the Merriam-Webster definition of “ghetto”:
“1 : a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live
2 : a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure
3 a : an isolated group b : a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity.”
Here’s the closest I could come to a reputable definition of “the ‘hood” in the way people use it on here from thefreedictionary.com):
“A neighborhood, usually in the inner city.”

When people say West Seattle’s becoming “the ‘hood” or “the ghetto,” I can tell they mean it’s becoming like an inner-city, predominantly minority-populated neighborhood. How racist is it to automatically equate a rise in crime with black people?
Again, giving benefit of the doubt, so if you’re one who’s been using these terms without thinking about the racist implications, please consider the meanings of the words before using them. Those that do know what they’re saying, well, I assume you’re comfortable with those implications, but know you’re no better than those who use “retarded” or “gay” as insults.

uh-huh February 18, 2010 (8:42 am)

Yea Thistle! I too have lived in larger areas like Chicago, LA and SF. It is unfortunate the individuals here perceive this minimal crime as “ghetto”. Certainly it is an issue, but hardly on the level of “real crime” in major urban communities. As a matter of fact: it appears to be only a select small group of repeating offenders. Sounds like legislation is the problem to me. Further, I question the use of the word “ghetto”….is it used as a second hand comment towards racism? Are people here really this ignorant? It appears all crime is on the rise everywhere in Seattle. Are people forgetting we are in the middle of one of the worst recessions this country has ever seen? They go hand in hand.

Isabel February 18, 2010 (9:02 am)

I’ve been a fan of graffiti and street are for a very long time. It’s a true form of art and it can be very beautiful and meaningful. I agree with the above commenter Mike that it shouldn’t be done in a place where the owner wouldn’t like it. But done appropriately, it can be awesome.

Has anyone been to places like Germany and seen the graffiti there? It’s on any and every blank space. Sure, some of it’s tagging and that isn’t very attractive, but there’s a lot of it that adds to the allure of the city. Graffiti is true city-living at it’s best.

I especially love street artists like Shepard Fairey. He’s one of the few graffiti artists that is considered “reputable” in the art world. His career started on the street and look at him now.

So yeah, I hate the tagging just as much as the next person. But I’m all for graffiti and other forms of street art.

... February 18, 2010 (9:10 am)

They need to make a free wall tht wall is asking for it it really is these kids are actually good friends of mine there great kids they do make stupid choices but the are tallented artist and a wall that large could take all the graffiti on the street and put it there I think it would be a good investment because it’s just paint and if they have a free wall there’s no Need to do it any were else

Digidoll February 18, 2010 (9:16 am)

Trouble spot: Olson Place/Meyers Way, near the top where it turns into the east end of Roxbury. There’s a shuttered business there with the anchor out front, and that building is covered with tags, as is the fence of a house across the intersection.

Not WS, but I saw tags on a freeway sign spanning I-5 going into downtown on the collector-distributor lanes… Now that’s gotta be a scary place to get to!

datamuse February 18, 2010 (9:17 am)

Fences, utility poles, walls, and even trees seem to get tagged in the Highland Park area near Westcrest fairly often (in fact, there’s a utility pole down there that’s had what seems to be a tag on it for months). It’s definitely not street art, which I too like and would like to see some designated spaces for.
.
I definitely don’t want to make light of crime here, especially since ignoring it would probably make it worse. But honestly, compared to when I first moved to West Seattle, when my neighbors in the apartment complex two blocks away regularly found drug paraphernalia on the property, and the occupants of house down the hill were woken up at 6 am by the police with a bullhorn, and I often came across squatters’ camps in the Greenbelt…it really doesn’t seem so bad now.

A bit rude February 18, 2010 (9:22 am)

As a store owner – tagging scratched into the glass of store windows is especially concerning due to the cost of replacing and repairing commercial glass. This kind of vandalism is far different from some of the beautiful graffiti artwork I have seen around town. As for ‘ghetto’ WOW! Anyone who makes this assertion must have grown up particularly priveleged and maybe needs a reality check and a few lessons about the cycle of poverty.

J February 18, 2010 (9:33 am)

I rather like the idea of making the people who are caught tagging responsible for maintaining an area “tag free” for a specified period of, say, months.

... February 18, 2010 (9:46 am)

West Seattle is not ghetto it’s full of rich Christians and there kids tht think they can do what ever they want I’ve been robbed once in west Seattle but say te central district thts the worst we have

Aim February 18, 2010 (9:54 am)

“A bit rude”:
Check out graffiti film. I know Speedy Glass uses it, but don’t know which other glass companies may carry it. It’s a relatively inexpensive solution. Bonus, it helps make your windows more shatterproof. It can also be installed on mirrors, etc. When you get tagged, you simply peel off the layer of film and apply a new one. Etching only goes through the film layer most of the time as well.

It may save you a few bucks. Good luck.

Koni February 18, 2010 (10:10 am)

It is ridiculous to call West Seattle a ghetto or to say our crime rate is any higher than other neighborhood in this city…where are the statistics to support that slander? When I lived in Greenwood, Greenlake and Ballard I had cars stolen, broken into repeatedly, and my house robbed. Since living in West Seattle for the last eight years, I haven’t had any problems…. and I live in a supposedly “bad” neighborhood. Curious if it seems we have more criminal activity simply because we all talk about what crime there is here on the blog. By sharing info with each other and trying to eliminate what crime there is, apparently other people think this is a hot spot. As far as graffiti and tagging goes, it has been bad all over the city for at least a decade, and the best way to slow it down seems to be cleaning it up and covering it up vigilantly until they get the message.

old timer February 18, 2010 (10:17 am)

I hope the trash that was picked up by our police is put in an appropriate container. Preferably non-recyclable, but that would go against the ‘it’s not their fault’ grain.
Was this the group that regularly terrorizes Rite-Aid?

dog February 18, 2010 (10:19 am)

why oh why

... February 18, 2010 (10:46 am)

People would rather complain than think of alternatives to keep artist doing art stop whining and do somthing besides arrest them they don’t stop they won’t stop being a ex tagger the rush is addictive the kids don’t know how to get tht with out drug it’s just a coping mecanism people could so easyily put money together or even just ask about a free wall

Paul February 18, 2010 (11:33 am)

Hi,

I am the person who witnessed the 3 kids applying their tags to the Rite-Aid wall. I called it in and while waiting for police, followed the kids from a distance, then called back to alert police of their location. No flag waving but the point is that I got involved and stayed involved until (luckily) resulted in the 3 arrests. These are young (young!) kids. Please get involved when the opportunity arises. The only way to end tagging is to make it difficult for taggers to achieve their goal. Handcuffs do that really well.

westseattledood February 18, 2010 (11:40 am)

Trouble spot:

When Highland Park Elementary was heavily tagged last year, the School District Graffiti cleanup was quick and responsive to the school and neighbors reports. That is a good thing.

However, Officer Topacio later mentioned at an HPAC meeting that the School District/School did NOT report the multiple taggings to SPD. That is not a good thing.

pie February 18, 2010 (11:41 am)

I wish someone could explain to taggers that the only people they are impressing are the other moronic taggers. 99% of the people in the neighborhood who see the crap aren’t impressed – we don’t understand the idiotic need to spray an ugly symbol on public or private property to “claim” it. If someone could get that through their heads, that no one but you and your idiot rivals cares, I doubt tagging would be long for the world.
.
But, sigh, I think they are just too stupid to grasp it.

westseattledood February 18, 2010 (11:55 am)

Another Highland Park trouble spot:

I mention this because it is highly visible on Henderson at about 14th, I think. There is a residence on a high corner lot with a fairly expansive retaining wall and a garage door flush with the wall. This hapless homeowner seems to paint out that wall and garage at least a couple times per year. It changes color alot! It is a relentless battle to cover tags on a busy arterial and keep his home looking good.

mark February 18, 2010 (12:26 pm)

I had my fence tagged last year. I keep paint remover and a wire brush in the garage and a baseball bat at my back door.

Travis Bickle February 18, 2010 (12:56 pm)

you will NEVER stop graffiti. Its street art, so as long as there are streets, expect to see more. I find commercials, billboards, and church bells more annoying than graffiti. After all, its JUST PAINT!!!!
I would prefer young people to use this as a way of expression, rather than joining a gang, doing drugs, making babies, playing video games, and other life destroying things. People are just mad because they cant capitalize on it. Just please practice your unique style prior to throwing it up. And as a former writer myself i encourage others to save their nickle and dimes for bail money.

Props Isabel!

mark February 18, 2010 (1:00 pm)

Travis, I would prefer they play video games, do drugs and play Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. Let them buy their own property, like the billboard owners and churches and then they can do as they please.

Mustafa February 18, 2010 (1:09 pm)

I think the perpetrators should be painted with a big “T” on their chests for “Tagger”. I think they should then have cement shoes and put in the middle of California and Alaska so that people must drive around them or knock them down when it is “walk all ways with walk.”

kwild February 18, 2010 (1:22 pm)

all i see are a bunch of snot nosed kids running around these days who have not been taught by their parents what manners are – in the age of technology we leave our kids to be babysat by the video games and television

if “perpetrators” were actually punished in a fitting way AND the punishment were carried through instead of this b.s. “johnny is a good boy and shouldn’t HAVE to serve his time” then society as a whole might be way better off

i grew up in w.seattle and can definitely see it changing – it isn’t as hometowny as it used to be – too many condos going up – getting too crowded – too many brat kids with parents who have their heads up their you know what

as for the graffiti – personally, i like it – i would think that the city should try and collaborate with artists to create murals citywide – that way they’re taken off the street, we get some nice artwork around the city, and hopefully someone learns the value of work

Tim February 18, 2010 (2:57 pm)

I have lived in the “ghetto” that is West Seattle for 17 years and have had my car broken into once, stupid me left all my CDs on the seat in an unlight area. I have never been robbed or burglerized. Never assualted or even verbally abused. If this is the ghetto, what is Detroit or Gary, Indiana? Lets be realistic, we are all lucky to live in West Seattle. And last I checked, people aren’t moving out because of the horrible crime. Based on all the construction, seems to me people are moving into our little “ghetto”. A few tags here and there aren’t going to bring us down as a society. Every neighborhood deals with it. Just keep painting over it, it’s part of life in every city. But I agree if they get caught they should be responsible for keeping the spot they tagged “tag free” for a year, at their expense. Make it part of their parol, if they don’t comply, off to jail. Let them see how frustrating it is to have to deal with the removal.

IslandLvr February 18, 2010 (3:34 pm)

I grew up in a city where you had to be 18 and present an ID to buy spray paint. We never had issues with tagging. Maybe that would work well for WS?!

pie February 18, 2010 (3:37 pm)

I think Travis must be a renter.
.
Say you’ve spent a couple thousand dollars of your salary paying to have a fence put up on the property you spend thousands of dollars of tax dollars on. Then some middle-class teenager who thinks he’s living the thug-life wants to impress the other idiot teenagers in the neighborhood comes along and decides to ruin that fence. Any intelligent person isn’t going to look at that damage and say, “Well, at least he expressed himself by costing me money instead of making babies or joining a gang!”, and go off whistling.
.
Travis, it is NOT ok for youth to spend their time destroying my property in lieu of a list of other things that they know are wrong.

natinstl February 18, 2010 (4:29 pm)

I totally agree with Pie. Travis, if you’re so okay with it then we’ll send them to your residence and let them spray paint all over it. I absolutely can’t stand all the tagging in my neighborhood. It’s very hard to clean off of brick and wood and it completely brings the neighborhood down. I’m constantly reporting graffiti at the Juneau Street Market. They’ve painted over it so many times and the kids just keep coming back. These kids need to get some real punishment. I’m glad to hear some of them were caught.

Jane February 18, 2010 (4:41 pm)

A few days ago I took an evening walk with a friend in Schmitz Park. We descended the stairs from Admiral en route to Alki Beach, and ran into a few teenagers spraypainting some sort of artistic creation on the cement supporting the bridge. Many of their peers had been there before to do the same thing, judging from the art. When we got to the bottom of the stairs they moved their paint cans and supplies and excused themselves for taking up space on the path. Here I must ask: Is this really “graffiti” of which you speak, or is it something else? I think these kids spraypainting art lends a little character, and, honestly, under a bridge, I’d expect some of that, or who hearts who, etc. When we say graffiti, are we talking about gang tagging, or spraypainted art? Honestly, I feel like there are far worse problems for media and police to pursue than graffiti. Is graffiti some sort of gateway activity for drugs, arson, burglary, pimping, murder, or domestic violence — some inducement to gangs? I have to say I’m not a “supporter” of it, but is it such a big problem compared to other things? I live in Admiral, near a 7-11 that just got held up and a Wells Fargo that’s been held up twice in the past few years. I say get those guys and leave the spraypainters alone. But maybe I’m missing something.

mark February 18, 2010 (4:58 pm)

Jane,

By all means, let them tag your house and your car. You failed me and everyone else by NOT calling 911. Do you think gang members start by pimping out little girls? I am not saying all taggers grow up to be gang members but all taggers are criminals if they don’t have the permission of the property owner or are doing it on public property. Its a crime, plain and simple.

Eric February 18, 2010 (5:25 pm)

Graffiti and tagging isn’t confined to public spaces: I’ve had the side of my house and fence decorated. It it a big problem? Not in itself, but it heralds vandalism, which in turn seems to become the background for more serious crime. The graffiti isn’t the gateway, rather the mindset that doesn’t recognize or chooses to ignore personal and social boundaries.

Gyngersnap February 18, 2010 (6:29 pm)

There has been an uptick of sribbling (call it tagging, graffiti, whatever) in the area of 35th Ave. SW and SW Henderson St. Several businesses have had their glass storefronts scratched, street signs have been tagged and fences and poles in the alley between 35th and 36th have also been marked. I really don’t know what the answer is, because these kids move like rats in the night. Now there’s an idea – a great big rat trap! SNAP!

Diana February 18, 2010 (7:41 pm)

My property in the 4700 block of Delridge was gang tagged SMLX3 Saturday night February 6th. This was done on a cedar fence straight under the street light. My neighbor’s white garage door was similarly gang tagged the same night. We all worked hard to clean it off as soon as we could. Research this group and you’ll get to know who is in the ‘hood. Other neighbors had been hit several weeks prior.

Denise February 18, 2010 (10:03 pm)

Speaking of tagging – what happened to our illustrious resident nut-job tagger who was arrested a few weeks ago? Crossing my fingers that he’s still at Western…

WSB February 18, 2010 (10:06 pm)

He may not be. I received a tip that he had not been kept long-term. Because of privacy rules, I so far have been unable to get that confirmed or denied. It’s been a couple weeks since I worked on that, though, and no further reports of vandalism have turned up here, so even if he’s out, he may not be back in West Seattle – TR

Mike D February 18, 2010 (11:40 pm)

Where are they getting this paint I ask? Does tru-value have a policy in place to help or decaying community? I don’t really think the community is decaying. I grew up on the East Coast where there are ghettos and hoods. This is not it by a long shot. Kids with nothing to do and easy access to paint. They think it’s cool, we don’t. That’s all it is.

Tim February 18, 2010 (11:57 pm)

I make the distinction between graffiti and tagging. Graffiti is art, and most graffiti artists respect private property. Taggers spray their gang affiliation to let other gangs know whose neighborhood it is. Tagging isn’t art, it’s gangs claiming their turf or showing up another gang by tagging in their neighborhood. Its trash talking with spray paint.

Tim February 19, 2010 (12:14 am)

Diana, SMLX3 is the Surenas Malditas Locas 13, its a female gang that is part of the Surenos.

This website has some good info and explains the different types of graffiti. Also lists most of the gangs in the Northwest.
http://www.nwgangs.com/29801.html

Phil Dirt February 19, 2010 (6:13 am)

I say flog them, then on a ball and chain, under armed guard, make them serve time scrubbing and painting over the crap that many of you wussies call art! Unreal you say? Yah, but that’s why things will likely degenerate even more. In the good old days, before everybody and his brother became a lawyer, the cops knew who all the punks were. When they caught one, they would take them downtown, after which, the punk would fall down the stairs.

Koni February 19, 2010 (9:36 am)

Unfortunately, even though you do have to show id to buy spray paint in Seattle (King county?) it doesn’t stop them from getting it. Also, many taggers use sharpie markers and other paint pens to do their thing.

natinstl February 19, 2010 (9:49 am)

Jane,

I’m disappointed to here that you think it’s okay for people to paint on public property just because you consider it art. It’s not okay to paint or tag on anything that you do not own period!

... February 19, 2010 (11:01 am)

You can get paint from any were it’s not difficult to get some steal it but some don’t in this case my friends bought the paint for a free wall
“legal wall” but I guess they found the need to do it else were there isn’t enough places for people to expres them selfs here it insane no skate parks no were for kids to go besides youthgroup and I’m sur I’m not the only one that’s not a fan of youth group keep them busy doing what they want and they’ll forget all about doing it else were can’t say the same for gangs but for the kids running around with a few markers in there coat No guns no drugs just trying to expres them selfs and base ball bats won’t do much because that’s when you turn children into murders because you asault some kid with a bat what are they going to do if they wake up? They get all there friends they are social there alot of taggers and they’d all live an excuse to go and do what ever they would do

... February 19, 2010 (11:03 am)

Props o Travis also

J February 19, 2010 (11:28 am)

…?

J February 19, 2010 (11:30 am)

… I’m intrigued that you take the time for quotation marks but not for other punctuation.

mark February 19, 2010 (11:33 am)

Punctuation? How about English? I have no clue what he, or she, even wrote.

Jane February 19, 2010 (12:32 pm)

Sure, it’s offensive if someone damages your property and it would offend me, too — and has. I lived in Delridge and regularly had my car broken into, sometimes in an attempted theft, other times for pure mischief (such as the time kids rammed a log through my car’s back window). But a kid spraypainting art on a wall is not my ideas of cause for a 911 call. No, it’s not ideal that in a city there’s vandalism. But it’s not like I moved to Delridge *surprised* that part of city living is petty crime. It’s amazing how uptight everyone is about their property, and I say that as a property owner. So we get the graffiti away, then we have an earthquake and that destroys your property. Then who will you blame? I don’t normally get into big chat debates, but as someone who lives near some businesses robbed several times at gunpoint, I think figuring out why criminals feel it’s easy to get in/out of W. Seattle is a better use of 911/police energy (you know, making it so violent criminals don’t easily get away…) than teaching some bored kids that there are more constructive things to do than spraypaint by getting the heat to come and cuff their wrists. That seems like the job of parents as well as of community, like maybe these kids or their parents or schools don’t know of free or otherwise more-constructive creative outlets. No, I’m not a parent. But I’m also not going to call 911 b/c some polite kid spraypainting like a blue tree on an already-decorated overpass pillar is out there on the assumption that he might paint a smily face on your picket fence… at least he wasn’t doing drugs, or robbing a business at gunpoint.

Jeff February 19, 2010 (1:52 pm)

In Arizona stores, spray paint was in a locked cabinet, and an employee had to get it out. And it seems like there’s a lot less graffiti in Phoenix, but that could be because they’re very aggressive about getting it removed.

ID doesn’t matter if the spray paint is stolen, so I think they need to lock it up here!

Only thing that can be done until then is clean it as fast as possible. Our townhomes have been tagged once in 3 years, but once they see that people care about their neighborhood, they tend to not come back.

I always call the property manager of low-income/Section 8 apartments when the building gets tagged, as sometimes a landlord isn’t onsite. They usually like to hear if the property is being neglected, and if they can tie it to a resident, sometimes it’s enough to get them evicted. Seattle Public Housing will list a contact for the building.

I believe Seattle code is also that graffiti must be removed in 5 days, or there’s a HUGE fine.

pam February 19, 2010 (2:04 pm)

tagging is a sign of gang activity
recently at my house (white center) a new tag has shown up, tagged every fence in a 4-5 block radius and the side of my garage. Finally asked some officers about it (when they parked for lunch), they confirmed what we thought, a new gang has shown up in the neighborhood.

Yea, lets ignore tagging, it is just a way for youth to express themselves…
yea right.

m February 19, 2010 (3:37 pm)

“Rescue” or something like that is all over wood fences and alleys close to Roxbury and 17th SW
We are trying to remove as soon it appears even a business that is been a tagged on the back, that is in an alley it has been recently painted and that is because, neighbors tired of it volunteer to pain it… It takes work but can be done.
It has to be removed as soon it appears and they will get tired and they will give up
I am up for getting the little animals because that’s what they are since they like to mark their territory just like an animal peeing to claim a territory like its own.
Just a note tagging and graffiti are similar in the fact that are done with out permission and in a private or public property and it does attracts vandalism right there… that simple.
Good idea luck the paint.

rob February 21, 2010 (8:21 am)

I am an Artist and homeowner in WS. I setup a trap for taggers in my yard and have had no problems since. I rigged a spray nozzle with a motion sensor near a fence of mine that was regularly tagged. Twice in the night a few taggers attempted to spray on my fence and twice they received a face and body spray of paint from coming onto my property. I use red tint latex which is hard for the perps to remove and ruins their clothing. Never laughed so hard to see the criminals run away scared.

m February 23, 2010 (6:31 pm)

That is great.
How exactly did you did that I will love to practice the same tactic and pass it around as well
M

Dick February 24, 2010 (12:32 am)

It’s just paint! Who cares? You shouldn’t associate us graffiti writers with gang members. There’s a very distinct line. They do it to mark their territory. While we do it for the rush, fame, or what have you. Comparing us to real criminals such as drug dealers, murderers, rapists etc is just absurd. You’re really going to get so upset over a millimeter thick layer of paint?! I can’t tell who is the one acting like a child. Us writers, or you guys…

Koni February 25, 2010 (12:59 pm)

Fame????? Yikes Dick, that is sad. Paint your own possesions as much as you like, but leave ours alone!

KateMcA February 25, 2010 (4:54 pm)

Rob, that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. I actually got on here to report all the new tags on Barton Street between 35th and Delridge. What a mess! Any neighbors want to help me with a paint out?

And for those who say that it’s only paint, get off your butts and get started painting it out. Go to the store, purchase the paint yourself and help get rid of it. It might be art to you, but to most of us it’s unsightly, and if we don’t have to pay to paint over it ourselves, then we have to pay in tax dollars to have the city do it for us. People want to paint something? Get a canvas and actually do something creative rather than damage others’ property.