Graffiti

[Jason W. Hill]

Kenilworth Residents,

On Monday night June 8th, there was extensive graffiti vandalism on street signs ( 17 ) along Kenilworth Road, Caledonia Road, Forest Hill Drive and Lakewood Drive. Whoever did this also climbed onto the roof of the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church and defaced the steeple as well. We know this occurred on Monday night and some of it may have occurred on Tuesday night as well.

If anyone saw ANYTHING suspicious on either of these nights please contact me. The Police have taken two reports and documented the damage.
All of the graffiti consisted of the word PHATSO. This is obviously someone's "tag". It is not gang related.

All of the graffiti has been removed as of today. Leaving it up only sends a message that our neighborhood does not care. Well...we do care.

We have experienced graffiti before but never on this magnitude. If we do not want this neighborhood looking like some of the other graffiti covered areas of this City, we better all be willing to get involved and catch whoever is doing this. Today is the last day of school so lets all get acquainted with the youth in this neighborhood and do what we can to keep them out of trouble. If you notice any late night foot traffic on your street, keep an eye on the individual /s and call Police at once if you feel they are acting suspicious.

Parents...make sure your kids are not involved in these criminal acts that have damaged City property. Individuals caught will be arrested and prosecuted.

Report suspicious persons or activities to Police at once. Please everyone....GET INVOLVED!

Police Dispatch 252-1110

Police 911

[Janiece Meek]

June 16, 2009

Kenilworth Residents,

The following streets are still being hit by graffiti vandals EVERY night:

Kenilworth Road, Caledonia Road, Chiles Aveue and Lakewood

The graffiti is removed whenever we find it but it usually reappears within 24 hours. PLEASE if you hear kids out late at night or in the early morning hours...call the Police so they can catch these punks. If you see someone walking along your street, observe them. If you see anyone write on a street sign, call the Police at once.

Robert

[Jason W. Hill]

From Robert:

Kenilworth Residents,

We continue to see more graffiti. In addition to Kenilworth Road, Caledonia, Chiles, Lakewood it has now spread to Sheridan and Plymouth Circle.

I found the following article which I think everyone should read:

REDUCE GRAFFITI TAGGING AND DEFACEMENT

by Mimi Sawyer

Graffiti tagging is a crime that broadcasts gang related turf wars, drug activity and hate. Not only is it ugly, graffiti vandalism and delinquency is costly. More than $15 billion per year is spent by our state and local governments to counteract graffiti tagging and property damage. Neighborhoods marked with graffiti tagging are also prone to other forms of crime and delinquency because it promotes the idea that no one cares.

Graffiti's visual pollution jeopardizes the quality of life in our communities. Tagging reduces property values (the National Association of Realtors reports that graffiti vandalism can cause properly values to decrease by 15%), causes businesses to lose their customers as they become too fearful to shop in the area, and increases gang activity as the neighborhood decays.

Because overworked police departments don't always have the resources available to pursue all defacement complaints, community involvement plays a key role in graffiti abatement.

Combating graffiti tagging requires action in three ways: anti-graffiti education, clean-up and law enforcement. Educating elementary school children is one of the most effective ways of wiping out graffiti tagging. Tagging removed within forty-eight hours can result in nearly a zero rate of vandals repeating the defacement. The faster you remove the graffiti, the faster the tagging problem diminishes because you prevent the defacement from becoming a status symbol among the gangs and taggers. And with community support, police departments can become much more efficient and successful in pursuing graffiti-tagging defacement complaints.

Graffiti Abatement via Education

Encourage teachers at your child's school to incorporate the Graffiti Hurts curriculum supplement into their lessons.

If your city doesn't enforce a strict anti-graffiti ordinance, write a letter to the editor to your local newspaper to help get the problem of graffiti tagging and defacement into the spotlight.

Graffiti Clean-Up

Participate in a local, city-sponsored graffiti clean-up event in your area. Many cities, such as Phoenix, Arizona, host graffiti clean-up days and offer free anti-graffiti clean-up kits including paint and supplies.

If graffiti taggers have vandalized your property, you'll want to remove the graffiti immediately. Depending on the surface, one of the four basic methods of removing graffiti should work: painting over it, chemical-based cleaners, water-blasting and sandblasting.

"Adopt-a-Wall" programs help communities keep graffiti off a wall or an entire block. This will allow you to clean-up graffiti promptly because the necessary consent forms and supplies will already be in place. If your community doesn't have an active program, guidelines are available if you'd like to champion a graffiti clean-up initiative.

Law Enforcement

If you see someone tagging a wall, never confront the perpetrator. They may be armed and dangerous. Instead, call 911 to report an accurate description of the perpetrators, the graffiti defacement, and details on their vehicle including a license plate number. Your community may even offer a reward for any reported graffitti defacement that leads to an arrest.

Nearly every city and county offers a special graffiti reporting hotline and many offer a graffiti removal request-form on their web site. If not, report all graffiti defacement to your city's police department.

More information on graffiti abatement is available from No Graffiti, Graffiti Hurts, and Keep American Beautiful.

[Jason W. Hill]

Saturday
June 20, 2009

Kenilworth Residents,

Graffiti vandals struck again last night on Kenilworth Road and Forest Hill Drive, marking 5 more signs with the tags "PHATSO" and now a new tag "JEST". Everyone continue to watch for this activity. Call Police immediately if you witness suspicious activity on your street. Parents make sure your kids or their friends are not involved in this.

[jolene gervasi]

Good to know, and now I understand why I was stopped Sunday night by police while walking. I will definitely keep my eyes open because I have gotten in the habit of walking in those areas late at night now that it is so beastly hot during the daylight hours.

thanks for the update!