Archive for the ‘Surveillance Cameras’ Category
New program shedding light on graffiti problem
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Graffiti-deterring cameras installed in Van Nuys tunnel
Friday, July 24th, 2009
A dozen surveillance cameras have been installed inside a San Fernando Valley tunnel hard-hit by graffiti vandalism.
The 711-foot tunnel on Sherman Way next to the Van Nuys Airport has been riddled with graffiti for years, and residents were fed up, said Stacy Bellew, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who represents the area.
“Our main message was, ‘Taggers beware. You are entering a no-tag zone,’ ” Bellew said. “If you decide to get out of your car and tag, we are going to catch you at every angle.”
The cameras and posted warning signs will serve as a deterrent to taggers and help police catch violators, Bellew said. Two more cameras will be installed within six weeks with the capability of capturing license plate numbers, she said.
The city spent $36,000 on graffiti removal in the tunnel last year, not including a general cleaning every six months, according to the city Department of Public Works. Business leaders, residents and Cardenas’ office raised $30,661 in public and private funds to install the surveillance system, Bellew said.
“This system will be a deterrent for taggers and will provide extra surveillance for pedestrians who walk through the tunnel every day,” said Steve Leffert, a member of the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, which contributed $6,000 to the project.
Bellew said she was impressed with how the community took the project “into their own hands,” and expressed hope that residents of other neighborhoods would work to have similar surveillance equipment installed in their areas.
“It’s not just about catching taggers,” she said. “It’s about public safety as well.”
—Gerrick D. Kennedy
VIA:LATIMES
City To Sue Parents of Juvenile Graffiti Offenders
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Police have one more tool in their arsenal to go combat the ever increasing graffiti problem.
The Corpus Christi City Council unanimously supported suing parents of habitual graffiti offenders Tuesday, specifically when the tagger has done extreme damage.
The law has been on the books for several years now, but hadn’t been enforced. But now, with the rise of graffiti, and seeing the same offenders causing thousands of dollars in damage, the police department’s Graffiti Task Force decided it was time for parents to start taking responsibility.
The city of Corpus Christi is the first in the state to start suing parents of graffiti offenders. Odessa is considering enforcing a similar measure.
via:www.kiiitv.com
Security camera helps Marina police nab graffiti vandal
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Marina police say they used video from a surveillance camera to identify and arrest a man responsible for 14 acts of graffiti vandalism, amounting to more than $400 in damage.
Christopher Reign Hernandez, 24, of Marina used green spray paint to tag numerous walls and other objects Sunday night along Reservation Road, Del Monte Boulevard and Carmel, De Forest and Hillcrest avenues, police said.
Lt. Rick Janicki said officers recognized Hernandez as the vandal after looking at video taken by a security camera where some of the graffiti was done.
Hernandez was wearing the same clothes he had on in the video, which were stained with green paint, when officers found him Tuesday and he had drawings of the graffiti done Sunday, Janicki said.
Hernandez was booked at county jail for felony vandalism and probation violations and is being held in lieu of $20,500 bail, according to jail record clerks.
Janicki said officers are reviewing vandalism reports taken taken in past months to determine if Hernandez is responsible for any other damages.
Arrest made in Staten Island graffiti incident that was caught on video, source says
Friday, March 13th, 2009
New security cameras a Staten Island deli owner recently installed outside his store appear to have paid off quickly.
The day after the owner of My Deli & Grocery in Concord released high-resolution surveillance footage of a white male spraying graffiti on the store’s freshly-painted wall, a 15-year-old boy has been arrested in the incident, according to a law-enforcement source with knowledge of the case.
The NYPD could not immediately confirm information about the suspect.
The vandal caught in the video left his mark at the deli, located at 200 Rhine Avenue, early Wednesday morning, just two weeks after owner Hamim (Shah) Syed put $9,000 into renovations and a fresh coat of paint for the building.
The video cameras, Syed explained, were part of those renovations.
“Today, you want to stay in business, you want to know who’s going in, who’s going out,” Syed said.
The footage starts at about 12:44 a.m. The suspect, who is white, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, crosses the street to get to the front of the store.
He walks by several display windows, looks around furtively, and picks a spot behind an icebox. After a few cars have passed, he goes up to the wall, pulls out a can of spray paint, and spends about 15 seconds leaving his tag. Then he walks away.
Via:www.silive.com
| Surveillance video outside Staten Island’s My Deli |
Light rail trains hit by graffiti
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
It’s only been running since Saturday, but someone has already painted graffiti inside one of the Valley’s light rail trains.
Metro’s Hillary Foose says whoever did it will be punished. “Violators are prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. So we take it very seriously and will not come lightly on this issue.”
The graffiti was discovered by a driver doing a routine inspection.
Metro officials don’t know where the train was when the graffiti was drawn. They’re reviewing 20 hours of footage from the rail cars video cameras to try to find who did it.
There are over a dozen cameras on every light rail car, meaning there are 32 cameras for every two-car train.
“There’s also those same kinds of cameras, which are continuously recording at the stations – there’s several at each station – and also at the park-and-rides,” Foose said.
[Via:ktar.com]
Painting with Permission – Graffiti Documentary
Monday, December 29th, 2008Scratchiti – Surveillance Cameras
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008Chaka – First Solo Art Exhibit – 02.07.09 – Mid City Arts Gallery Los Angeles
Thursday, December 11th, 2008This kid Chaka was all state graff bombing king of cali back in the early 90′s..
Daniel Ramos (born August 27, 1972) who went by the moniker “Chaka” was one of the most prolific graffiti taggers of the late 20th century. Chaka IFK were tags widespread, even appearing on the bass drum of Dave Grohl, when his band Nirvana did the video for the song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The bass drum is the location where a band’s name usually appears.
Authorities in Los Angeles County, California and surrounding areas throughout the West Coast ascribed to Chaka between ten and fifty thousand unique incidents of him “tagging” the word “CHAKA” on various vertical surfaces of private and state property, using equipment ranging from permanent markers to spray paint and incurring up to half a million dollars in monetary damage. Chaka was eventually caught, tried, and convicted in 1991 on these charges. Ramos was accused of tagging the interior of a civic-center elevator as he left a courtroom, and was arrested and charged again.
[Via:Wikipedia]
Graffiti Writers -VS- Surveillance Cameras
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008Police: Piner graffiti suspect caught on tape — and arrested A teenage boy caught on camera spray-painting gang graffiti at Piner High School has been arrested, Santa Rosa police announced Tuesday.
The 16-year-old spray-painted a number of walls and columns during the early morning hours of Dec. 3, authorities said.
Following an investigation headed by school resource officer Alan Rosenthal, the boy was identified as a student at Elsie Allen High School. He also was a truant, officials said.
When the teenager returned to school Monday, he was arrested on charges of felony vandalism.
The suspect was formerly a student at Piner High and he was recognized in the images from the surveillance cameras.
“We could see every detail, every hair on his head,” said Piner High Principal Mary Beth Halsey.
She said the school is rarely a target of extensive graffiti, which in this case required hours to remove.
“It took my custodian and two district painters” to clean up the graffiti, Halsey said.
She estimated the damage at $700 to $800.
She said the vandalism — which includes 2-foot-high painted letters — is upsetting to both students and staff.
“It’s a violation of all that we work toward, in terms of respect, responsibility and safety that’s our focus here,” she said.
Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said the boy is also suspected of graffiti vandalism at about five other locations, including near Elsie Allen and some central parts of Santa Rosa.
The targets included “some residences throughout the city and fences, including one house under foreclosure,” she said.
[Via:www.pressdemocrat.com]