Surf City cracks down on taggers while they run rampant in Santa Ana
The City of Huntington Beach will be voting tonight on “a proposal Monday that would give police the power to fine anyone carrying spray paint cans in public parks, playgrounds and beaches — even if they don’t have the intent to commit vandalism,” according to the O.C. Register.
What a great idea! Why isn’t the City of Santa Ana implementing such measures? We have a lot more graffiti in our town than H.B. does.
“The ordinance would also allow officers to cite minors who possess spray paint, marking or etching tools between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. – the most frequent time frame in which graffiti is applied, according to a staff report by police Chief Ken Small.”
But this is only one tool in an array of ordinances being employed by the Surf City. Others include:
- A law that rewards those who provide information leading to the conviction of anyone leaving graffiti on public or private property.
- The city also holds the parents of minors caught tagging accountable. Fines can range from $500 to $1,000.
And the “new ordinance would also require retailers to keep aerosol spray paint cans in a secure place, possibly a caged area to prevent theft and make the items less accessible to potential taggers, the staff report said.”
Again, why isn’t the City of Santa Ana getting tough on graffiti? We are supposed to be “Orange County’s Downtown,” but instead our city looks like Orange County’s slum at times. I have seen graffiti recently up and down the Main St. corridor, even in the northern part of town, by the Mainplace Mall.
Is there some reason why the Santa Ana City Clowncil is asleep at the wheel with regards to graffiti?
The Santa Ana Police Department does have a web page devoted to graffiti. There you will find that Santa Ana offers “a Graffiti Reward Program in the amount of $500 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. ” That is a much lower reward than what H.B. offers.
The web page also includes a report on the police department’s anti-graffiti efforts. There you can find out just how weak Santa Ana’s anti-graffiti ordinances are.
For example, Santa Ana has much weaker penalties in place for taggers, “Most arrestees are juveniles and most arrests are for misdemeanor vandalism (damage below $400). As a result, the most common sanction administered by the Juvenile Court is home probation.” Why doesn’t the Santa Ana Clowncil put some teeth in their anti-graffiti ordinance? H.B. has much higher fines.
Santa Ana “prohibits the sale of aerosol cans of paint, etching devices, and certain markers to persons under 18 years of age.” But why don’t they insist on caging these supplies like H.B. is proposing to? You can walk into any Staples store, and there is one in Santa Ana on 17th and another in Orange, but nearby on Main St., just north of the Mainplace Mall, and buy or steal Sharpie permanent markers, which are popular amongst taggers.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
What can I say? The HBPD is sometimes excessive, sometimes controversial, but generally effective. We were one of the first cities to fully implement community policies that involve homeowners and businesses in the solution to criminal problems. Police can’t do it alone - it take a community to decide it will not allow gangs, graffitti, and violence on its streets. Police in this case become an effective tool of change or of the status quo. We are lucky to have such a fine and enlightened department in HB fully supported by the council and citizenry.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
This should be an interesting legal test. The Penal Code, which supercedes all other codes, already provides for most of these violations but requires possession for intent or for the purpose of defacing property. I’m sure the legal beagles in HB have found a way to circumvent and enhance these restrictions in the penal code, but I’m also sure some ACLU type will take on the system and test the legal validity eventually. Personally I hope the ordinances stand and other cities follow.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Who’s in charge of cracking down on taggers in Santa Ana? Would it be Paul Walters, the candidate being promoted by lobbyists for the job of permanent OC Sheriff? There’s no better test than looking at “his” city, where tagging, gangs and other problems are among the worst in the county.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The City of Santa Ana spends 3 million a year to paint over the unsightly blight that is graffiti.
And that sum does not take into account the slap tags, pen tags, glass and metal etchings and graffiiti painted out by businesses and property owners.
Its easily a 5 million a year problem, and that number does not include all the lost sales and sales taxes and decreased property values.
Santa ana’s image suffers county wide due to the blight that is graffiti.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
I work in the civic center of Santa Ana area and my landlord has to cover over graffiti regularly. I watched a gang-banger tag the front of business in broad daylight on First street durning afternoon rush hour. People were honking their horns and yelling but that didn’t stop the guy. Pretty clear to me the guy wasn’t worried about the cops. Take the 3 million and double it to include the private sector.