Graffiti is the art of disturbed adolescents. Most residents of Pacific Beach, however, consider it an offensive nuisance.
Resident Sally Wellington walked down to the beach from her Loring Street house on July 1 only to discover a large, ostentatious tag on the pump house below.
“It was all nice and painted clear, and then BOOM ” there it was,” Wellington said. Never before had the graffiti been this bad. Wellington called the graffiti hotline and visited the graffiti Web site – resources that are provided by the city of San Diego.
Frank Hafner, Deputy Director of Graffiti Control for the city, said, “We try to be responsive and flexible in terms of where we go and how we allocate our resources. Primarily, it’s complaint driven,” he said of the methods they use to decide which areas to paint first.
So, how and where can these incidences be reported? Residents can call (619) 525-8522, the graffiti hotline, or they can visit the city’s graffiti Web site at www.sandiego.gov/graffiti/sighting.shtml. The graffiti hotline offers a message service on which residents can leave the location of the graffiti sighting. The Hotline provides additional numbers for the Paint and Material Exchange Bank and the Graffiti Control Program along with a reference to the Graffiti Control Web site.
The Web site features an electronic reporting form with designed boxes for name, location and description of the graffiti – all information that can alternatively be relayed on the graffiti hotline. Additionally, residents can read about the city’s program on the Web site – this includes strategies to deter vandals and obtain a phone number for the city’s Paint and Materials Exchange Bank. Hafner stated that, if they need it, the city will provide residents with paint for their beautification efforts. He also stated that their department works with the Police Department graffiti unit. As a team, they listen to the complaints and decide how to allocate resources.
Hafner described the response steps of the Graffiti Control Program. First, his department assigns the case to one of their investigators, who determines if the graffiti is on public or private property. If on private property, the city crew paints it out. If on public property, they enlist the services of the Urban Core, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and employment opportunities for youth. Urban Core paints over graffiti on public property. “The city has plenty of resources in graffiti,” Hafner said.
Phil Franchina, Police Officer of the Graffiti Strike Force, explained his contribution to the program, “We do more [of] the follow-up investigation to catch the taggers,” he said. Citizens should call the San Diego Police Department’s Graffiti Strike Force in addition to the graffiti hotline because their department tracks down the taggers and prosecutes them. Most important, they need a photo of the tag. This allows them to compare the marks with other cases on file. “A lot of times they are repeat offenders that do this,” he said. “The main thing with the graffiti is that you can document it.” When the tagger gets caught, the photos can be used to charge the criminal with all of their offenses instead of just the caught-in-the-act incident. Most taggers don’t vary their marks, and, therefore, the photos can link all of their offenses easily.
Regarding Sally Wellington and the pump station at the west end of Loring Street – she went outside one afternoon and discovered a beautifully painted building without a trace of graffiti – evidence of the Graffiti Control Program in action. This demonstrates that the city cares and wants residents to live in an aesthetically pleasing environment – whether it is Pacific Beach or any other part of San Diego.