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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991/05/07 Item 20 COUNCIL MEMBER JERRY RINDONE Graffiti Abatement Program May, 1991 GENERAL PURPOSE--Eradicate graffiti from neighborhoocs that are the primary target and location of such vandalism and associated gang activities. This program will offer Chula Vista a comprehensive approach to combating the deterioration which impacts our older neighborhoods. This relationship between criminal activity and dilapidated property has been labeled by experts at the "Broken Window Theory." A brief discussion of this relationship is found in the attached article, "Making Neighborhood Safe," by Professors James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. GOAL AND OBJECTIVE--The intent behind this proposal is to enhance Chula vista's existing graffiti abatement program by offering a more comprehensive scope. Only by devoting the necessary combination of public and private resources can Chula Vista avoid the proliferation of gangs, drug dealers and vandalism which signal the start of the vicious spiral of urban deterioration. HIGHLIGHTS-- 1. Prevention: a. Elementary SchoOl Education b. Community Education c. Recreation Alternatives 2. Eradication-a pUblic/private partnership: a. Graffiti Buster Abatement Parties b. Utility Box Artwork c. Hot-line & Rewards d. Code Compliance Officer 3. State and Local Legislation-regional strategies? a. Felt-tip Marker Ordinance b. Graffiti Abatement Community Service Districts-SB 224 by Senator Watson. ~ STRATEGY--Council member Jerry Rindone proposes ~ creation of a multi-faceted approach to address existing ~d future graffiti problems by focusing-llpon three elements: (1) Prevention; (2) Eradication-public/p~ate partnership; and (3) State and local legislation-evaluation of regional ~~ strategies. Although the City of Chula Vista does have an existing graffiti abatement program, a comprehensive strategy is necessary in order to provide Chula Vista with a long term solution to the root of graffiti and its associated problems. PREVENTION 1. Elementary School Education: Many graffiti vandals are ordinarily of pre-teen or teen aged. In order to deter youth from becoming graffiti vandals, elementary school children need to develop a sense of community pride and respect for private and public property. This might include a series of programs where elementary school children participate in neighborhood clean-ups or even assist in removing graffiti from parts of their school, playgrounds and parks. Any education effort could be coordinated through Chula Vista's existing anti-drug and anti-gang educational components-Police Dept's DARE program, for example. The City'S after school Park and Recreation Program could work together with the schools and pOlice to coordinate such educational efforts. 2. Community Education: Community awareness is also necessary to develop community support for graffiti abatement and to encourage the property owners victimized by graffiti to quickly respond by removal as soon as possible. One way to education the community is to create a graffiti hotline where citizens can register the location of new graffiti. Since such a centralized system might be easily inundated with calls, the police department could work closely with "neighborhood watch" block captains to assist in the identification of graffiti. As part of this hotline, a system of rewards could be developed for information which leads to the apprehension of graffiti vandals. 3. Recreational Alternatives: Graffiti is generally the first sign of organized gang activity. One of the reasons for graffiti and the associated gang presence is the lack of alternatives for our youth. Council member yerry ~ Rindone proposes to expand Bl.e ~ ~ RecreatTOn Department' s after school recreational proqram.l2l u*g~ combination of volunteers to assist paid staff. - As a former Chula Vista Parks and Recreation Department ,r Rec Leader, Council ~er Rindope knows ~w i~portant /1 after-school recreatlon programs can be for young children,. They are especlally important wlth~e-advent of more "latch-key" children. We see a direct relationship between the lack of adult supervision and recreational alternatives and the increase in graffiti and gang related activities. ,~-~ Current after-school recreational programs only provide one part-time leader. The addition of more staff to Chula Vista's after school recreational programs is something that Council member Rindone has championed for many years as a member of the City's Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission. The concept of using well trained and highly qualified volunteers is a cost effective means to expand our after school programs. ERADICATION Graffiti vandals "tag" property in order to gain recognition; the rapid removal of graffiti deprives them of this recognition. Council member Rindone's comprehensive graffiti abatement program would encourage graffiti eradication by property owners and volunteer groups. This will accomplish two things: (1) instill a sense of community responsibility and civic pride in painting out graffiti as soon as it appears as well as make a statement to the gangs as to who controls the neighborhood--the residents! (2) reduce potential costs by developing a public-private partnership in removing graffiti. 1. Graffiti Buster Parties--Effective and timely removal of graffiti can only be accomplished with a combination of public and private efforts. Council member Rindone would propose that Chula Vista's Volunteer Coordinator and its existing Graffiti Abatement staff work with local civic groups and business associations to coordinate neighborhood graffiti clean-ups. Private resources could be tapped to donnate paint and materials. Members of various community organizations could be coordinated to assist in painting out the graffiti. This effort, with the City acting as a catalyst, could expand to include the County Probation Department's public work service defendants supervised by the Probation Department to paint graffiti. This team would work closely with the Parks and Recreation Department and the Elementary School District in implementing the educational component. 2. Utility Artwork--A rather innovative approach to combating graffiti was implemented by a city in West Germany. As the attached article indicates, graffiti is less likely to happen where artwork already exists. Since utility boxes are a common target of graffiti vandals, why not announce a public schools artwork contest to paint murals on the utility boxes. This is something which the Volunteer Coordinator and staff from Chula Vista's existing graffiti abatement program could coordinate with the local schools. 3. Code Compliance Officer--Despite the use of volunteers and the contributions of private resources, it ~~ will be necessary to supplement City staff if this comprehensive graffiti abatement program is going to be effective. The addition of a code compliance officer to assist in the enforcement, identification and eradication of graffiti would be a comparatively minimal costs. This person could also assist in the educational efforts and coordination of neighborhood graffiti clean-ups. STATE AND LOCAL LEGISLATION Chula Vista must continue to explore new legiSlation at the state and local level which could assist in the eradication of graffiti. In addition to the current proposals now under review by the City Attorney and City Manager, Council member Rindone would also request they look at other ordinances from San Diego and Oceanside. At the attached newspaper articles illustrate, graffiti is a "regional" problem. Last year State Senator Diane Watson enacted legislation which would permit cities and counties to form "graffiti abatement" community service districts. This year she is expanding that authority to include the ability to impose an additional tax on aerosol spray cans. The funds would then be used by this multi-city service district to fund graffiti abatement efforts. Council member Rindone would propose that staff take a look Senator Watson's existing proposal. CONCLUSION Graffiti in our communities will not disappear overnight. We must be persistent and committed to its removal. This tells the gang members and graffiti vandals that "we" are in control of our communities, not them! ~1 April 18, 1991 ~. FROM: Legislative Committee Sid Morris, Deputy City Manage~ Legislative Analysis TO: SUBJECT: I. ReQuires Council Action SB 776 (Killea) - San Diego/Coronado Bridge: Tolls. This legislation would authorize the City of Coronado to use tolls from the bridge for congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative forms of transportation. Staff Recommendation: Support II. Addressed bv LeQislative ProQram thus ReQuires no Council Action. Transmitted for Your Information Onlv. SB 1155 (Bergeson) - Redevelopment: Special Supplemental Revenue. This legislation proposes to reduce supplemental revenue to redevelopment agencies. Staff Recommendation: Oppose AB 315 (Friedman) - Redevelopment: Low and Moderate Income Housing. This legislation proposes to increase the current 20% set aside for low and moderate income housing to 40% and 50%. Staff recommendation: Oppose AB 1865 (Houser) - Redevelopment: Sales and Used Tax. This legislation would require redevelopment agencies to share 30% of any increases in sales or used taxes generated from a project assisted by another agency. Staff recommendation: Oppose SCA 11 (Morgan) - General Obligation Bonds - This legislation would allow approval of local General Obligation Bonds by a simple majority of voters, rather than the 2/3rds extraordinary vote requirement. Staff recommendation: Support SB 82 (Kopp) - Property Tax: Revenue Increase to Cities by Closing Loophole for Business Properties that Change Ownership. This legislation would reform transfer of ownership statutes to provide for more frequent reassessment of corporate and partnership property so that these sales are treated more like sales of individuals residences. Staff recommendation: Support. SB 445 (Deddeh) - Cost Recovery for Removal of Asbestos in Public buildings. This legislation would authorize any public entity to bring a civil action against any manufacturer of asbestos containing products for damages based upon the cost of removing or treating materials containing asbestos in buildings or facilities owned by a public entity. Staff recommendation: Support. If you have any questions, please contact me or Iracsema Quilantan at 691-5031. cc: Chuck Cole, Advocation, Inc. ~ 2IJ~ L CITY OF CHULA VISTA LEGISLATIVE ANALVSIS Legislative No. Author Title SB 776 Killea San Diego/Coronado Bridge: Tolls Sponsor League Position Related Bills As Introduced City of Coronado Status None N/A March 7, 1991 As Amended Pending Senate Transportation Committee: Hearing - May 7, 1991 N/A Backaround This analysis is being transmitted to you in response to a written communication from the City of Coronado requesting Chula Vista's support of SB 776 which will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee on May 7, 1991 at 1:30 p.m. Under existing law tolls authorized to be collected for crossing the San Diego/Coronado bridge and the proceeds of the tolls are to be used for bridge operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and improvement, as well as improving approaches to the bridge. SB 776 would: Authorize tolls from the bridge to be used, in conjunction to the purposes stated above, to relieve automobile related bridge congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative forms of transportation including ferry service and connecting mass transit systems. Delete an obsolete provision relating to a study to be completed by July 1, 1989. Imoact This proposal has no direct impact on the City of Chula Vista. It would improve the qual ity of 1 ife in Coronado and adjacent areas by authorizing tolls from the bridge to be used for relieving bridge congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative forms of transportation. Recommendation That the City Council authorize staff to prepare a letter for Mayor's signature in support of SB 776 to the City of Coronado and the appropriate legislative committees. SB 776 has been reviewed by the City of Chula Vista's Transit Coordinator who concurs with staff's recommendation. This measure is not addressed by the legislative program, this reauires Council action. '90 Leg Program Sec. Reauires Action Date To Counc il Action 4/23/91 Suooort Letter(s) Required Ves-L No_ WPC 3644A/0009V ~-3 ;uJ-L . 00 \YJ ~ W APR - 5 /991 ,&COUNCll OFFICES UtA VISTA, CA MARY HERRON MAYOR (619) 522-7322 CITV OF CORONAOO OFFICE OF THE MAYOR 1825 STRAND WAY CORONADO, CA 92118 April 3, 1991 Honorable Leonard Moore 276 Fourth Avenue Chula Vista, CA 92010 RE: SB 776 {KiIleal San Diel!o-Coronado Bridl!e: Tolls Dear Mayor Pro Tern Moore: The City Council of the City of Coronado has been diligently working to see legislation, which would authorize tolls from the bridge to be used for relieving bridge congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative forms of transportation, introduced. This bill is a result of our own Unified Transportation Plan which stated specifically to request legislation to enable the use of toll revenues for funding of the UTP Alternative Modes Program. Existing law authorizes tolls to be collected for crossing the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and the proceeds of the tolls to be used for bridge operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and improvement, and improving approaches to the bridge. In addition, this measure would authorized tolls from the bridge to relieve automobile- related bridge congestion and pollution through the subsidization of alternative forms of transportation, including, but not limited to, ferry service and connecting mass transit systems. We are extremely pleased in having the bill introduced and would like to have the support from the City of Chula Vista. SB 776 will be heard in the Senate Transportaion Committee on May 7, 1991 at 1:30 p.m.. Senator Bergeson and Senator Killea both represent San Diego on the Committee. The Chairman of the Committee is Senator Kopp. Please help with the passage of SB 776 by submitting letters of support to both the Chairman of the Committee and our own Representatives. Coronado will continue to work for the passage of SB 776. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. Sincerely, ~~ Mayor 6\\P~v ~ ;2.0-4-- PAGE 1 Display 1991-1992 Bill Text - INFORMATION BILL NUMBER: SB 776 BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senators Killea, Bergeson, Craven, and Deddeh (Coauthors: Assembly Member. Alpert, Chacon, Frazee, Gotch, and Hunter) MARCH 7, 1991 An act to amend Section 30796.7 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to transportation. " LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 776, as introduced, Killea. San Diego-Coronado Bridge: tolls. Existing law authorizes tolls to be collected for crossing the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and the proceeds of the tolls to be used for bridge operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and improvement, and improving approaches to the bridge. This bill would authorize tolls from the bridge to be used, in addition to the purposes stated above, to relieve automobile-related bridge congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative forms of transportation, including ferry service and connecting mass transit systems. The bill would delete an obsolete provision regarding a study to be completed by July 1, 1986. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 30796.7 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended to read: 30796.7. (a) Notwithstanding Section 30101 or 30102, except for the purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c), a toll may not be collected from any person crossing the San Diego-Coronado Bridge after the bonds issued to construct the bridge have been retired. (b) The commission may continue to collect tolls for the purposes of bridge operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, and improvement and improving the approaches to the bridge. ~ ----~ PAGE 2 Display 1991-1992 Bill Xext - INFORMATION BILL NUMBER: SB 776 BILL TEXT (c) In addition to the purposes for which tolls may be collected pursuant to subdivision (b), tolls may also be ee~~ee~ea fer ~he p~rpeee ef f~ftaiftg a a~~aYT ee ~e eefta~eeea ~y ehe aapareaeft~T ef _raft.per_._~eft tmpreYemen~. and pregrame ee .ii.Y~.~e Br~dge-r.i.~ed er.ft.pere.eieft pre~~em.T 'he .e~ay .h.~~ ~e eemp~e~ea afta e~~.i~~ea wi~h reeemmefta.~ieft. ee ehe eemmi..ieft fte~ ~.~er eh.ft ~~~y iT i986 used to relieve automobile related bridge congestion and pollution through subsidization of alternative ~ 2! transportation including, ~ ~ limited to, ferry service ~ connecting !!!! transit systems . tat 'he eeamis.ieft .h.i~ eefta~ee a p~Diie heariftg fer ~h. p~rpe.e ef reeeiviftg iftp~e fre. ehe eiey ef S.ft BiegeT ei~y ef 8ereft.aeT Saft Biege A..eei.eieft ef 6evernmefte.T afta e~her. eft ehe i..~e ef ehe ievei ef ehe ~eii. eh.rgeaT He~ i.~er eh.ft ~.ft~.ry iT i98TT ~he eemmi..ien .h.~i een.iaer ehe p~D~ie inp~~ ana ehe aep.r~.en~~e ee~ay reeemmena.eien. e~D.ieeea p~r.~.n~ ~e .~Daivi.ien tet afta ae~ermift. wh.~her er nee ee .ake any revi.ien ~h.e .ay D. ft.e....ry in ehe Driage ee~~ ra~e.T . . ~.:d1J-' , THE AT!.''\; 1"\<: \10"\ rlIL\ ", ~. f:-~ '~~~;-;;;:-j /%f.a+:',~:&~ ;; -.~ ~~~;~. [t-~-,~ u_:-/~_~_~::.l --~." "-I. ."'(....' - __:l.:J "'........ ';'~~ ~~. _.J,IM-,-- . - _1_____ "'. _",__ 1 t \ ,. ,. -, ...,......-....__.x':___ _ ..'- ; '-, ,-: "''!.;''' '-_.-~.:-.--.:...~~ '-r-- ~----~, ~ -=::':....!"-:;--:;.t;.__-.;.. Sometimes "fixing broken windows" does more to reduce crime than cont'entional "incident-oriented" policing MAKING NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE B\' J"~IES Q. WILSO:--'- A:--'-D GEORGE L. KELLI:--'-G NE\\' BRL\RFlELD APART\lE:'\;TS IS :\:-.: OLD, Rl":"-:- down collection of \,,'ooden buildings constructed in 1942 as temporarv housing for shipvard work- ers in ~ewport 7\"ews, Virginia. By the mid-1980s it was "idelv regarded as the worst housing project in the city, ~Ianv of its vacant units provided hiding places for drug users, It had the highest burglaty rate in :'\ewport :'\ews; nearly a quarter of its apartments were broken into at least once J year. For decades the police had wearilv answered calls for as- sistance ;}nd hOld invc!.ltigatcd crimes in :'\C\\o' Briarfield. :'\Ot much came of this police anentiveness-the build- ings went on deteriorating, the burglaries went on occur~ ring. the residents went on living in terror. Then, in 1984, Deeect;-:e Tony Duke, assigoed to . newly created police tJsk fore:. dec;ded to interview the residents of :"Iew i t-:'A -'-.~. .'~ .' "'-iii~~.:_l..f~__, .nt~,~"T'};,~i~_; ,~~ ::}-.: .:"._\. . ~ '_ ~- ~1 ~:~.::J-~ - .,., .-... . . ..:as.. '~-f ~-_._- "R-;.;;",.,~..,_:,.~,--.:j\",j :::. ":-.;: ",. . r .-' 1 -~-':~~~'~ ..~, ' , ':~ .! -' .-::-:-:---. "::.l..~: .. , -II> ./ ":' ...-"- --':"~ , .; Briarfield about eheir problems, :'-ioe surprisinglv, he found that they were worried about the burglaries-but they were just as concerned about the physical deterior;1tion of the project. Rather than investigating only the burglaries. Duke spent some of his time investigating the buildings, Soon he learned that many cicy agencies-the fire depart- ment, the public-works department, the housing depart- ment-regarded New Briarfield as a major headacho, He also discovered ehae its owners were in default on a federal loan and that foreclosure was imminent. The report he wrote to Darrel Stephens. then the police chief, led Stephens to recommend eo the cicy manager that :'\ew Briarfield be demolished and its tenants relocated. The city manager agreed, Meanwhile, Barr,' Haddix. the patrol officer assigned to the area. began working with members of other city agencies to fix up the project, pend- . ( ...--. . _ ..0-,.._ . .. -- , :'~--,. ,0.-..., '_..':- "~" ;-. +". '. . . ~;~ ~ ..-: , .- f, L ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROSALIND IVENS II"IUH \In l'Jl'i'1 - '=' "1"111. .-\ ]'1.'" I I ( \1 ()" I 111_' ~~- ....11 ~"i:: 'c~i g.:; L.i'-":i~ '\~~~~ t ing its eventual replacement. Trash was carted away, aban- doned cars were removed, potholes were filled in, the streets were swept. According to a study recently done by John E. Eck and William Spelman. of the Police Execu- ti\'e Research Forum (PERF). the burgla,,' rate dropped by 35 percent after Duke and Haddix began their work. Stephens. now the executiye director of PERF. tells the srory of the "ew Briarfield.project as an example of "prob- lem-oriented policing." a concept de,'e1oped by Professor Herman Goldstein. of the Cni\'ersit\' of Wisconsin Law School. and sometimes also called communi~"-orien[ed policing. The con\.entional police strategy is "incident-ori. ented"-a citizen calls to report an incident. such as a bur- glary. and the police respond by recording information rel- e\"ant to the crime and then trying to soh"e it. Ob"iously, when a crime occurs, the victim is entitled to a rapid, ef. fecti\"e police response. But if responding to incidents is all that the police do, the community problems that cause or explain many of these incidents will never be ad- dressed. and so the incidents will continue and their num. ber will perhaps increase. r This "'ill happen for two reasons. One' thaq:.lot of se. rious crime is adventitious, not the result f inexorable so. cia I forces or personal failings. A rash of urglaries may oc- cur because dtug users have found a ack alley or an abandoned building in which to hang t. In their spare time, and in order to get money to bu. drugs, they steal \ . . .---....,--- . . 7> , ~ ",-~". II ft,....:.} '._ - c:- . ,~~; ." \"'- ,,-'-~ , 'a.~'.:-,; ~.~; , .J"~ -:;.. .~. '" FEHRl .\HY 14~" 1-" .J, ; c.-/ ,/ " - i,r - from their neighbors. If the back alle\'s are cleaned up and the abandoned buildings rom down. the drug users will go away. They may even use fewer drugs. because the~" will ha\'e difficul~' finding convenient dealers and soft bur. glary targelS. y the same token. a neglected neighbor. hood may be e the turf of a youth gang. whose memo bers commit mo crimes together in a group than the\ would if the\' were ting alone. If the gang is broken up. former members will s . I commit some crimes but prob. abl\' not as many as befor ~~ ~Iost crime in most neigh oods is local: the otTend. ers li\'e near their victims. Because of this. one should not assume that changing the em"ironmental conditions con. duci\.e to crime in one area will displace the crime to other areas. For example. when the :'\e\\' York City police com. missioner. Ben \\'ard, ordered Operation Pressure Point. J crackdO\m on drug dealing on the Lower East Side. dell. ing and the criminality associated with it were reduced in that neighborhood and apparently did not immediateh reappear in other. contiguous neighborhoods. Suburban customers of the local drug dealers were frightened a"'a~ by the sight of dozens of police officers on the streets where these customers had once shopped openly for drugs. They could not-at least not right away-find an. other neighborhood in which to buy drugs as easih' as the\' once had on the Lower East Side. At the same time. the local population included some people who were \\'illing to :1i., ,);. me /" ~'-'-'. " , ~.'1I ~., ~ ' . - _\ .' . " ..-. " ' ,,.,....:.. -,. : -- --. ~ '- -". . /'~"-" ..' -'-< ~. .. -,_-Y .: THE .\TL" 1'1(: \lC)'TtlLY .Jill and abet the drug de:.llers. \\'hen the police present:e m;lde drug dealing unattractive. the dealers could oOt- .J~:J.in. at least not for the time being-tind Jnother neigh- hnrhnad that provided an equivalent sacial infrastructure. The second reason th:.lt incident-oriented police work f.lils to discourage neighborhood crime is th:lt bw-abiding citizens who are afraid to go out ontO streets tilled with zulliti, winas, and laiteting yauths yield cantrol af these ,treets to peaple wha are nat frightened by these signs af urbJn decay. Those not frightened turn out to be the same peaple who created the problem in the first place. Law- abiding citizens, already fearful, see things occurring that ffiJke them even more fearful. A vicious cycle begins of fear-induced behavior increasing the sources of that fear. .\ Los Angeles palice sergeant put it this wav: ~n eo Ie in this district see that a gang has spray-painted its initials n all t e sto SI s. ev eCI t nor the neople.or the Dolice. controls the streets. \\"hen they discover that the Department of Transportation needs three months tQ replace the Stop signs. the" deCide m:J.t the (it\.' isn't as e...owerful as the ~anE!:. illese people want us to help them.Qke back the streets." Painting gang svm- bols on3 Stop sign or a storefront is not, by itself. a serious crime. .\s an incident. it is trivial. But as the s"mptom of a problem, it is very serious. - I:..; :\:'\,; EARLIER ARTICLE l:-';: THE .-\TLA....,T1C(\t.\RCH. 19K!) we called this the problem af "broken windaws': If the fitst broken window in a building is nat repaired, then pea pie who like breaking windows will assume that no one cares abaut the building and mare windaws will be broken. Soon the building will have no windaws. Like- wise, when disorderly behavior-say, rude remarks by loi- terin~ youths-is left unchallenged, the signal ~iven is that no one cares. The disorder escalates. possibly to seri- ous crime. The sort af pal ice wark practiced in "ewpart "ews is an effort to fix the broken windows. Similar projects are under way in cities all over .\merica. This panern consti- tutes the beginnings of the most significant redefinition of police wark in the past half century. Fur example: . When a ~unfi~ht accurred at Garden Villa~e, a luw- income hOllsin~ project near Baltimore. the Baltimore Countv palice respanded bv iO\esti~",in~ both the shoot- in~ and the hausin~ project. ChiefCuroelills Bchan dircct- ed the officers in his Community Oricrlteu Po!il:c Enfon.:c. mcnt (COPE) unit to finu out what ulldJ be done: to aH /) i' - 17.'/.... :J.lleviate the fears of the project residents and the g:lOg tensions that led [Q the shooting. COPE officers worked with members of other agencies to upgrade street lighting in the atea, ttim shrubberv, install daat lacks. repait the roads and allevs. and ~et maney to build a pla"grollnd. \\Iith police guidance. the ten:J.nts org;anized. .-\t the Sjme time, high.visibility patrols were started and gang mem- bers were questianed. When bath a suspect in the shaat- ing and a particularlv traublesame parole vialatOr were ar- rested, gang tensions e:J.sed. Crime rates dropped. In bringing abaut this change, the palice dealt with eleven different public agencies. . When lacal merchants in a "ew Yark City neighbar- haad camplained to the pol lice abaut homeless persans who created a mess on the streets and whose presence frightened away cuswmers. the officer wha respanded did not roust the vagrants but instead suggested that the mer- chants hire them [Q clean the streets in front of their stores every morning. The merchants agreed, and now the streets are clean all day and the customers find the stores more attractive. . When peaple in a Las Angeles neighbarhaad cam- plained to the police abaut graffiti an walls and gang sym- bols on Stop signs. officers assigned to the Community :>'labilizatian Project in the Wilshire statian did mare than just try to catch the gang vauths wha were wielding the spray cans; they also organized citizens' groups J.nd Boy Scouts to paint over the graffiti as fast as they were pUt U . . When residents af a Hauston neighbarhaad became featful abaut crime in their area, the pal ice not ani,' redau- bled their effarts to salve the burglaries and thefts but alsa assigned some officers to talk with the citizens in their homes. During a nine-month period the officers visited mate than a thitd af all the dwelling units in the area, in- troduced themselves, asked abaut any neighbarhaad prob- lems, and left theit business cards. When Antony Pate and :>'Iary Ann Wycaff, researchers at the Pal ice Faundatian, evaluated the project, they faund that the people in this area, unlike others living in a similar area ,....here no citizen.contact project occurred, felt that social disorder had decreased and that the neighborhaad had became a better place to live. ~Ioreover. and quite unex- pectedly. the amount of property crime was noticeably reduced. These are all examples of community-oriented policing. whase current papularity aman~ pal ice chiefs is as great as the ambiguity of the idea. In a sense, the police have al- ways been community-oriented. Every police officer knows that most crimes don't get solved if victims and wit- nesses do not cooperate. One way to encourage that coop- eration is to cultivate the good will of both victims and \vit- nesses. Similarly, police-citizen tensions. over racial incidents or allegations uf brutality or hostility, C.ln often be allayed. and snmetimes prevented, if police olliccrs stav in dose wut:h u'ith community groups. Accoruingly, OlO'it departments have;It 1cJ.~t one: (.:ommllnit~'-rcla(ion'i otnL.cr, 1.1'111(1 \H\ 1''''\'/ '1'111".\ I I " 1 1 ( \1 I)' I Ill. \ who arranges meetings hetween officers and CitIzens ~roups in {'hurch basements and other neutral locales. But these commonplace features of police work are add- ons, and rarely alter the uaditional work of most parrol of- ficers and detectives: responding to radio calls about spe- cific incidcnts. Thc focus on incidc.nts works agains~ a focus on problems. If Detecti,'e Tony Duke had focused only on incidents in :\'ew Briarfield. he would still bc in- ,'cstigating burglaries in that housing project; meanwhile, the communits-relations officer would be tellin~ outraged residents that the police were doing all they could and urg- ing people to call in any useful leads. If a tenant at one of those meetings had complained about Slopped-up drains. rotting floorboards. and abandoned refrigerators, the cam- muniry-relations officer would have patiently explained that these were not "police matters." And of course, the,' ate not. They are the responsibility of the landlord, the tenants themselves, and city agencies other than the police. But landlords are sometimes indif, ferent, tenants rarely have the resources to make needed repairs, and other city agencies do not have a twenty-four. hour emergency service. Like it or not. the police are about the on'" cits a~encs that makes. house calls around the k. And like it or not, the ublic defines broadly what it thinks of as public or er, and 01 s the police re- sponsible far maintaining order. Community-oriented policing means changing the daily work of the police to include investigating problems as well as incidents. It means defining as a problem whatever a significant body of public opinion regards as a threat co communi~' order, It means working with the good guys. and not just against the bad guvs. The link berween incidents and problems can some- times be measured. The police know from experience what research by Glenn Pierce, in Boston, and Lawrence Sherman, in ~linneapolis, has established: fewer than 10 I'ercent of the addresses from which the police receive calls account for more than" 60 percent of those calls. Many of the calls invoke domestic disputes. If each call is treat- . cd as a separate incident with neither a history nor a fu- ture. then each dispute will be handled by police officers anxious to pacify the complainants and get back on patrol as quickly as possible. All too often, however, the dispu- tants mO\'e bevond shouting insults or throwing crockery al eal'h other. A knife or a !(un may be produced, and somebody may die, A ,'e" large proportion of all killings occur in these do- mestic senings, A study of domestic homicides in Kansas Citv showed that in ei!(ht out of ten cases the police had been called to the inddenr address at least once before; in half the cases thev had been called/it'e times or more. The police are familiar with this pattern, and they have learned how best to respond to it. An experiment in Minneaoolis. conduned bv the Police Foundation, showed that men who Wen: arrested after assaulrin their souses were mlH,:h less likc:'" to commit new aSSilU ts than those who were n-H..n:l~ pJ~'1fled or askco to lean' (he house for a fe\\ FFlUU \H.' 1'11'(4 - ~ ~'j (~t.( hours. Research is now under W3\ in other cities (0 (c....[ ~nding. Arrest may rHO\"C alwa'ys to be the best dispo- sition. or we ma'y learn that some kind of intervention In J social agency also helps, \'.hat is indispUtable is that;} do- mestic fight-like many other e"ents to which the police respond-is less an "incident" rhan a problem like" to have serious. long-tcrm consequences. A at r su h roblem, familiar [Q ~ew Yorkers. is ~raf- fiti on subway cars. \\"hat to some aesthetes is fa an IS [Q most people a sign that an important public place is no longer under public control. If graffiti painters can attack cars with impunity. then muggers may feel they can attack the people in those cars with equal impunity. \\'hen we first wrote in these pages about the problem of broken windows, we dWl'"lt on the e-raffiti problem as an example of a minor crime creatine: a maior crisis, The police seemed powerless to do much about it. They could arrest youths with cans of spray paint. bur for everyone arrested ten more went undetected. and of those arrested, few were punished. The New York Transit Authority, led by its chairman, Robert Kiley, and its presi- dent, David Gunn, decided that graffiti-ftee cars were a major management goal. ,,"ew, easier-to-c1ean cars were bought. More important, key people in the Authority were held accountable for cleaning the cars and keeping them clean. Whereas in the earl,. 1980s tWO out of eve,,' three cars were covered with graffiti, today fewer than one in si:x is. The Transit Police h,,'e played their part by arrestin~ those who paint the cars, but they have been more suc. cessful at keeping cars from being defaced in the first plal:l: than they were at chasing people who were spraying al- ready defaced ones. WHILE THE PHR-\SE "CO\I\U.:,,\ln..ORIESTED POLH . ing" comes easily to the lips of police administfJ. tors. redefining the police mission is more diffi- cult, To help the oolice be~ome accustomed to fixine- broken windows as well as arrestinl! window-breakers reauires do. in thi e v r\" hard for man\" administrators to do, Authority Q\"er at least some patrol 0 cers must e de. centralized, so that they have a good deal of freedom [0 manage their time (including their paid overtime). This implies freeing them at least partl~: from the tyranny or the radio c31L It means giving them a broad range of responsi- bilities: to find and understand the problems that creare disorder and crime, and to deal with other ubilc and pri- "ale a,l;!;encies thar can he p cope WI[ t ese problem.... It rH~.\ rl._\:'\. lie \I0'TIIL' :11~JnS Jssigning the:m [0 J neiRhborhood Jnd le:J,-ing them (here for an extended period of time. It meJ.ns ba{,;king the:m up with dep:.lnme:nt support Jnd re:sourct:s. The: reason these Jre nO( e;lsy thin~s for police chiefs [0 Jo is not simply thJ.t chiefs jre sl:J\"es to u:.ldition, though ..001e imp:.ltient ad\"oc:.ltes of community-oriented policing llkc to say so. Consider for :.l moment how JIl these chJnges might sound to an experienced Jnd intelli!'?:ent po- lice: exC'cutivC" who must defend his department a!'?:Jinst :-nediJ {.'riticisms of officer misconduct. politicJI pressure [0 cur budgets, and inrerest-group demands for more police protection everywhere. \Vith decentralized Juthoricv, no one will know recl Iv how ro fficers 5 end their -I.i.z. ~Ioreo"'er, decentralized authority means t 3t patrol .officers will spend time on things like schmoozing with citizens. inste:.ld of on quantifiable t:lsks like issuing tick- ets. making arrests, :lnd clearing cases. \laking the commllnitv-oriented officers generalists in t " I with other city a encies. J responsi- bilitv for which few officers are \,"'e tralne In w IC cuts JCross senslti\.e uesnons orturt and publiC ex eceatlons. If officers are left in a neig or 00 ,some of them may ')tart taking money from the dope dealers J.nd after-hours JOInts. To pre\"ent that, officers are frequently moved around. \Iareover, the best pcople Jre lIsllJIl~ kept in the detective squ:.ld that handles the reJlI~" big elses. Few po- lice executives W:.lot their best people settling into J neigh. borhood. walkin~ around the hus "ups and shuppin~ molls. The enthusiasts for communi(v-orienr~d puli,in~ hav~ answers for JII these conc~rns, but sometim~s in their lCJI they farJi!;et thJt they are contendin~ with more th;.1n mt:rc bureaucratic foot-d,"~gin~-that th~ problems are reo' and require thoughtful solutions. \boy police exel.:uri\-es ,2;et in trouble not because the crime rate goes lip but becJuse cops are accused of graft, brut:llity, laziness. inciviliry, or indifference. In short, police mana ernen driven bv the con- straints on e 0 t a v he oals of the 'ob. '0 cannot coDe with tJ ose constraints without understanding them. This may be why SOllle of the biggest changes [Oward com. municy.oriented policing have occurred in cities where a new chief has come in from the outside with J. m:lOdate to shake up a moribund department. Lee Brown brought a community orientation [0 the Houston Police DepJftment under precisely those circumstances-the reputation of the department was so bad that almost any change would have been regarded as an improvement. What can we say [0 the worried police chief who is 01- , ~ SAVING MEMORY Summer nights we put pennies on the track. Even the station was quiet enough for crickets. ~Iountains surrounded us, middling high and purple. :'\Jo matter where we stOod they protected us with perspective. People call them gende mountains but you can die in there; they're thick with creeper <lnd laurel. Like voodoo, ( drew pictures with a sparkler. :\ curved line arcked across the night. Rooted in its slope, one laurel tree big as the mountain holdin~ ir:. You can hear the train in the rails. They're round, not flat, as you'd expect, and "lick. \\'e'd walk the sound, one step. tWO, slip. on purpose, in the ballast. hopscotch and waltz on the ties, watchinlZ: the bi~ round e~"e enter the curve and grow like God out of the purple, the tracks turninl!; mean. molten sil\.er blazin~ d~ad at us. We'd hula. Tan~o. ....nd the firsr white plume would sho(l( lip screaming lon~, landy, L11n as ~tamma ,hooing st;lrlings from her I:Htil.:ed pies. :'0 .F Sing ~tickey \louse, the second scream rising long, again, up and up. Stick our right hip out, (he third wailing. Give it a hot-cha wiggle, the fourth surrounding us. And bidding each other fond adieux, we'd count {Q three, turn our backs. flash it a moon, and materialize, fantastic, run over with light, the (fain shrieking to pieces, scared, meaning it. short, short, short, short, pushing a noise bigger than the valley. [( sent us flying, flattened, light as ideas, back on the platform, the Y6B \lollet compound rolling through southbound, steam borne, out of Roanoke. It wJsn't to make the train jump the track bur [Q hold rhe brearh-ed~ed piece of copper ~rown hot with dying, thin with birth, wiped smooth of origin and homilies. To hold sllch power...-\s bi~ as the: eye of the train, as bi~ as the moon burning like the sun. _\11 the: perspecti\-c curved Jnd Kone. -.11",".\' .\'ffu:,'"r,lI,mlmfJI/(1 ) / I-I-[IIH \I{Y 1'1""1 T H I, ,\1 L , 'T I ( \1 fJ' I 111.\ rcady runnjn~ ;d prctty j;ood department,: Start with cor- ruption: For decades police exccuti,'cs and rcformers hJ"c hclic\'cd (hat in order to prevcnt corruprion, you h,H'c (0 centralizc control over personnel and disl'ouragc intimacy between police officers and dtizens. \Jaybe. Hilt the price one pays for this is very high, For example, m~1nY neigh- borhoods are bein~ destrosed by dru~ dealers. who hang our on e\'ery streer corner. The best way to sweep them ofT the streets is to have patrol officers arrest them for selling dru~s and intimidate their CUSlOmers by parking police cars right next to suspected drug oullets, But some police chiefs forbid their patrol officers 10 work drog cases. for fear they will be cO!fupted. When the citizens in these cities see police cars drive past scenes of open drug deal- ing, they assume the police hase been paid off. .Efforts to pre\'em corru....Ption have produced the appearance of corruption, Police Commissioner Ben ".ard, in :'\.ew York, decided that the price of this kind of anti-corruption strategy was too high, His Operation Pressure Point put scores of police officers on the streets to break up the drug.dealing bazaar. Police corruption is no Jaughing matter, especially in ~ew York. but some chiefs no~" belie,'e that it will hase 10 be fought in ways that do not require police officers to avoid contact with people. Consider [he nroblem of l!ettine police resources and mana.e::inl! oolitical oressures' ff"o;;nUrces can be iustified with statistics, bur statistics often become ends in them. seh"es, One police captain we inten'iewed said that his de- p;;rment was preoccupied with "stacking widgets and counting beans." He asked his superior for permission to take officers out of radio cars and ha"e them work on com- munity problems. The superior agreed but warned that he would be warching 10 see what happened 10 "the stats." In the short tun Ihe stats-for example, calls answered, aser- age response time-were Jikely to get worse, but if com. munitv problems were solved, they would get better as citizens had fewer incidents to report. The captain wor- ried, howe\.er. that he would not be gh'en enough time to achie,'e this and that the bean counters would cut off his program. A better W3V (Q 0 ustifv ettin resources from the city is to stimu ate populaL demand for resources devoted to llroblem-soh'in/t. Prop~rly handled, community-oriented policing does generate sUpport for the department, \Vhen :--:ewark police officers, under orders from Hubert Wil- liams, then the police direclOr. began SlOpping city buses and boarding them to enforre city ordinances against smoking. drinking. gambling. and plaYing loud music, the bus patmns often applauded. When Los .\ngeles police of- fil'crs supen'ised the hauling away of abandoned cars, onlookl-rs applauded. Later, when some of the officers had th~ir time available for problem-solving work cut back, sl'\-eral hundred citizens auended a meeting to compbin, In Flint. \lil'hig3n, patrol ofril'ers were: raken our of thl'ir lOMS and assigned ro fOOl be~ts, Rohen Trojanowiczo ITIHU' \In 't.I~'J - / /1 a professor at \fichigan State l'nin:rsity, analYl.eJ thl: rl.'. suhs and found hig increases in citizen satisfaction Jnd of. ficer morale, and evcn a significant drop in nime (an c:uli- er foot-patrol project in !\:ewark had produced equi\'Jk:nr reductions in fear but no reductions in crime). Citil.cn 'dIp. purt was nor confined (0 statements made to pullsh.'rs, howe\'er, \'oters in referenda twice aporoved tax incrcJsL"'\ to maintain the foot. tr s 'ste ') e second time hy a two-[Q.one margin, :'\"ew Briarfield tenants unqueS[lOn- ably found satisfaction in the role the police plas"ed in get- ting temporary improvements made on their housing proj- ect and getting a commitment for its ultimate replJce. ment. Indeed. when a department experiments with a community.oriented project in one precinct, people in other precincts usually want one too. P OLlTICI..\~S, LIKE POLICE CHIEFS, HEAR THESE \'1E\\s and respond, Bur they hear other views as well. One widespread political mandate is to keep the tax rate down. '\Ian\. police departments are alread\" stretched thin by sharp reductions in spending thar occurred in the leJn years of the 1970s. Putting ont additional patrol car on the streets around the clock can cost a quarter of a million dol. lars or more a year. Change may seem easier when resources are abundant. Ben Ward could starr Operation Pressure Point because he had at his disposal a large number of new officers who could be thrown into a crackdown on srreet-Ie\'el drug dealing. Things look a bit different in Los Angeles. where no big increases in personnel are on the horizon, As are. suit, only eight officers are assigned 10 the problem-solving Community '\lobilization Project in the Wilshire disrrict- an economically and ethnically di\'crse area of nCJrh 300.000 residents. But chan e nor necessarih' re uire more resourl'C:^'. .!-nd the 3\'a.ibhility of nf'"W resources is no J?;uaranrec rhJ! chan.e::e will be attemored. One temptation is to tr~' to ~ell the public on the need for more policemen and decide I"l- er how co use them, l.sually when that script is followed. either the public turns down the spending increase or the extra personnel are dumped into what one LAPD .:.:aptain calls the "black hole" of existin/( commitments. Iea,"ing nu !fare and producing no effects. What mas h '"e e rt. hOIl the olicc "re deplo, cd an n1JnJged. :\n experiment jointly con uered )y the: \\'ashingwn. D,C.. Polil'e Department and the POlll"C: FoundJtion showed that if a few experienced officc:r... l"Ol1- 'I - THE .-\. r L\ ... TIC ~I 0 'i TilL Y centr;lte on known repeat offenders, the number of seriolls .,tfenders taken off the streets grows substJmiJII'.-", The Flint and "iewark experiences suggest thar foot parrols in certain kinds of communities (but not all) C:ln redlH.:e fear. In Houston problem-oriented tactics seem cle:uly to hJxe heightened a sense of citizen security. The problem of in[er:1~encv cooocration ma\'. in-.Jbe lone: run, be the most difficult of all The police can brin~ problems to the attemion of other ciry agencies. but [he s'.ste is not always organized to respond. In his book Xt; -!toomood StrL';as John :\Iudd calls ir the "rat prob- em": "If a rat is found In an:l aument, l[ is J housma in- spection responsibi icy; I It funs Into a restaurant, t e health de artmcnt has Junsdlctlon; if it oes oU[slOe ;and dies in an aile..., public wor s takes over. A po Ice 0 cer who takes public complamts about rats seriously will go crazy trying to figure ouc what agency in the city has re- 'ponsibiliry for rar comrol and then inducing it to kill rhe r.its. :\[auers ate almost as bad if the public is complaining .lbout abandoned houses or school-age children who .lre not in school. The housing de artment may refer to n. centrate on enforcing t e DUSing co e rather than go throuJl;h the costly and ume-consumlnll orocess of getung an abandoned house rom down, The school departmenr may have expelled the truanr children for making life mis- erable for the teachers and the other students; the bst rhing it wams is for rhe police to rell rhe school to take [he kids back, All ciP;r' and county agencies have their own priorities and face their own pressures. ..forcin~ them to cooperate bv knocking heads [QlZcther at the top rareh' works; what department heads promise the mayot rhey will do may bear li"le telarionship ro what theit rank-and-file employ- ees acrually do, From his experiences in :\'ew York Ciry government \ludd discovered that if vou want al!encie.s. to CGonerate in solving neill.hborhood problems, vou have to ~et the neillhborhood-Ievel suoervisors from each agency roe:cther in a. "disrrit"r r:thincc" that meets regularlv and ad. dresses common concerns. This is noc an easy task (for one rhing, police districr lines ofren do not march the disuicr boundaries of the school, housing, traffic, and public- works departments), but where ir has been tried ir has made solving the "rar problem" a lor easier, For example, \Iudd reports. such interagency issues as park safet~: and refuse-laden vacant 10[5 ~or handled more elTecri\'elv when the field super\'lsors mer to ralk about them than ".hen memos went u the chain of command at one Jgen. cy and then own t e c am of cornman of another. CO\I\Il.S1TY ORG.-\:-':IZ.-\TIO:-':S .\1.0:-';(; THE I.I"ES OF :\ei~hborhood Warch pro~rams may help reduce crime, but we cannot be certain. In particular. we do nO( knoVr' wha( kinds of communities arc most likely (0 hcnch( from such programs, .-\ Police FoundJ(ion 'iwuy in \Iinncapoli'i found thJt gcuing ctlceti,.c communi(~. or~J. -, '- r ,J niza(ions started in [he most [roubled neighborhoods WJS very dillicult, The costs and benefits of having parrol offi- cers and ser~eants intiuence (he delive~' of services from other ciry agencies has never been fully Jssessed. ~o wa'y of wresting control of a neighborhood from a stree:t gJ.ng has yet been proved effective. And even if (hese questions :He :.mswered, J police Je. parcment may still have difficulty accommodating [\\:0 n~ry different working t.:ulwres: the: pJtrol officers and detec- tives who handle major crimes (murders. rapes, Jnd rob- beries) and the cops who work on community problems and the seemingly minor incidents they generate. In en~r'Y de artment we v' it s the incidenc-oriented offi- cers s oke dis ara in I' of the roblem-orienced 0 cers as "social workers, "_and some of the aner respon e by calling rhe former "gheno blasters," If a communiry-ser- vice officer seems to get (00 close to the communir;.', he or she may be accused of "going native." The tension be- tween rhe twO cultures is heighrened by rhe facr that in many deparrmenrs becoming a detective is regarded as a major promotion, and detectives are of (en selected from among those officers who ha\'e the best record in making major arrests-ill other words. from the ranks of the inci- dent-oriented. Bu( this panern need not be permanent. Promorion tracks can be changed so rhat a patrol ollicer, especially one working on community problems, is no longer regarded as somebody who "hasn't made detec- tive." Moreover, some police executives now believe (hat splitting rhe patrol force into twO units-one oriented to incidenrs, rhe orhet to problems-is unwise, Thev are searching for ways to give all parrol ollicers rhe rime and resources for problem-solving activities. Because of rhe gaps in our knowledge about borh rhe re- sulrs and the difficulties of communiry-oriented policing, no chief should be urged to accepr, uncritically, the com- muniry-oriented model. Bur the rraditional model of po- lice professionalism-devorine: resources to nil irk r:tdio- car resoonse to calls about specific crime incidents- .!!};tkes little senSl- :tf ::Lrime wheI1 the orincipal (hreats (Q public order and safety come from eo/ltelit:t, not individual. sources and frnm hmhll!mJ. not incidents: from well-orga- nized ~anP'lil :tnn nru~ traffickers, from uncared-for legions of the homeless, from boisterous teena.e;ers taking advan- ta~e of rheir newfound freedom and affluence in congest- ed urban se[(in~s Even if communicy-orienred policing does not produce the dramatic gains thac some of its more ardent advocates expect, ir has indispurably produced one rhar rhe officers who have been involved in it immediately acknowled~e: it has changed their perceprions of rhe communirv, Ollicer Robin Kirk, of the Houston Police Department, had to be ralked into becomin~ parr of .. nei~hborhuod fear-rcduc- rion projc:cr. On<:e in it, hc WJS convcrted. In his worth. "Traditionally, police officers Jf(cr about (hree ycar~ gee to (hinkin~ (hat evcr~'bod~"s a loser. Tha('s the only people ~'()u'rc uc~din~ with. In community policing YOll're dealing with the g:ooJ citizens. helping (hem solve prohkf11s." FI..III{I un 1"11" 82 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22.199I;SD ". ;Graffiti, :Cleanup Cost ;on the Rise :. Vandalism: Caltrans ;,will spend $28,000 this year for a clean sweep of 'San Diego. 'By MONICA RODRIGUEZ TIMES STAH WRITER . The California Department of :Transportation expects to spend :ahout,'s28,OOO this year to erase graffiti from signs, walls and art ,projects along San Diego freeways, Steve Saville, Caltrans spokes- ,man for District n, which includes .ImpeIj'!'J, Riverside and San Diego counties, said Caltrans used to spend $3,000 to $5,000 a year to . clean up graffiti in all three coun. ties. , . GraUiti have gradually increased in the last couple of years, Saville said. "But there has been a dramat- 1c increase in the last six months to a year." sav~il1e attributed the increase to San Diego's growth. Many of San Diego:s. problems, such as gang activity and graffiti, are things Los Angeles began to go through 10 yelli~go. A great deal of freeway graffiti in .san. Diego are gang oriented, Saville said. He added that other graffiti are so elaborate that they alrll~ $onstitute an art form. The most affected area is Inter- stateS, from the border to down- town San Diego, and some sections of Interstate 805 and California 94. Saville said. The graffiti run the gamut from initials to more serious items such as lOeanti-Semitic slogans discov- ered' earlier this week on a retain. ing wall mural overlooking the Wer~~ge of 1-8 and I-80S. Saville said Caltrans doesn't 0,\ VIO McNEW I Los Anrrlr, T.ma San Diego's growth is being blamed for a surge in graffiti, such as this seen from an Interstate 5 off-ramp, know who defaced the mural. He added that by the time Caltrans or police get calls from motorists reporting people painting graffiti, the painters are usually gone. The mural, depicting a sunrise over the high desert mountains and some vicuna. was created "10 years and one month" ago, said the mural's creator, Art Cole. "It lived longer than many chil- dren without abuse do," Cole said. He described his mural as a visual prayer for peace and calls it "Big Sky Church." The mural. 275 feet wide and 22 feet tall, was first done in black and white in one night, Cole said. It was painted without the approval of Caltrans, but once officials saw it. they asked Cole to add color. Back in 1981. the materials to complete the mural cost 5600. The work took three weeks and four artists, Cole said. Cole has been asked to repair the damage-but at his own expense. Seville said Caltrans used to help artists by providing materials, but that the agency can no longer afford to do so. Cole says he will need to raise 52,500 to $5,000. Usually, graffiti painters go after more mundane things, such as overhead signs and road signs, Saville said. Sometimes the graffiti can be dangerous. For example. signs warning people they are going the wrong way on an on-ramp or off-ramp have been obscured, as have others warning motorists of an oncoming curve. This is espe- cially dangerous to drivers travel- ing in strange territory. Caltrans cleans the vandalized signs using a paint-removing sol- vent. but after three or four c1ean- ings, the solvent takes the renec- tive finish off. Once that happens the sign must be replaced. "For the smaller [signs] it can cost anywhere from 525 to 550 to replace them," he said. "But for the larger ones, it can get pretty costly depending on the size. "Nothing about this situation is cheap." Saville said. Caltrans is looking for ways to reduce the graffiti. among them the installation of security systems and fences around the base of the signs to keep people from climbing them. "Initially it would be a big ex. pense, but in the long run it would help by reducing the cost of clean. up," he said. Another option is to apply sili- cate-based materials to sign sur- . faces, Saville said. By doing this, graffiti could be removed with a spray of high-pressure water. ~- -'--" ~ ,.....-- RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH BAY MAYORS OF THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO. CALIFORNIA. REQUESTING THAT THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO ADOPT A REGIONAL ORDINANCE FOR THE CONTROL OF GRAFFITI WHEREAS. WHEREAS, WHEREAS. WHEREAS, WHEREAS, WHEREAS, a 11 of the muni ci pa 1 i ti es in the County of San Di ego have experienced increased problems with graffiti; and the muni ci pa 1 i ti es in San Di ego County have i ni ti ated or increased existing programs to control graffiti and provide for graffiti eradication; and the South Bay Cities have experienced an explosive increase in graffiti on City property, along the public rights of way and on public utility properties; and the Mayors of the South Bay Cities have initiated ordinances to control of sale and display of paint and markers, etc., used to produce graffiti; and the Mayors of the South Bay Cities recognize that graffiti control and eradication is a regional problem that cannot be solved by any single municipality; and the South Bay Mayors recogni ze that the County of San Di ego can initiate and adopt stringent graffiti ordinances that will have application on a regional basis. NOW. THEREFORE. BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayors of the South Bay Cities as foll ows: 1. That the County of San Diego is requested to adopt an ordinance to provide for regional control of paint, markers and other paraphernalia that are used for graffiti making. 2. That the County of San Di ego i ncl ude a mechani sm to ensure that businesses control paint, markers, etc., that are used for graffiti. 3. That the County of San Diego include the control of paint and marker sales, etc., at swap meets and auctions as part of a regional graffiti control ordinance. 4. That the County of San Di ego provi de for a coordi nated graffiti prevention and control program involving all local agencies and governments. 5. That the County of San Diego include provisions for minors in possessi on of graffiti paraphernal i a and also provi s ions for parental responsiblity for possession and actual use of graffiti paraphernalia as part of a regional graffiti control ordinance. MARY HERRON, MAYOR CORONADO LEN MOORE, MAYOR PRO TEMPORE CHULA VISTA GEORGE WATERS, MAYOR NATIONAL CITY MICHAEL BIXLER, MAYOR IMPERIAL BEACH 1- -I