Graffiti News

By MARISELA SANTANA [Via:www.wavenewspapers.com]

LYNWOOD — No one can forget the two women — one in Pico Rivera, the other in Hesperia — who were shot last year for confronting taggers. Then there was another man shot in the chest this month in Orange County for the same reason.

In the city of Lynwood, there is a crew of 11 workers who operate the Anti-Graffiti Division.

Led by Raul Ortega, who has worked in the city for 25 years, the anti-graffiti division has its good days and its bad days, he said in an interview just a few days after hearing the news of an Orange County man being shot by taggers.

“We’re concerned, of course, but are we afraid, no,” he said. “It’s our job … I think some of the taggers [in Lynwood] know that.”

There have been times, however, when Ortega and other employees have been threatened for painting over graffiti and they have occasionally come across taggers or gang members brandishing weapons to heighten their threats.

“When that happens, we know we have to leave,” Ortega said. “There was one incident when someone quit on us because he was threatened. For the most part, though, we know what our job entails and we know what we could face.”

Deborah Jackson, director of the Quality of Life Department who oversees the anti-graffiti division at the city level, said she never lets any employees travel alone when they’re going to clean-up graffiti. They always have to go out in pairs, she said, for safety reasons.

“They’re told from the beginning, that if they encounter anyone who could be a threat, that they need to pack up and leave,” she said. “There have been occasions when our crew members were attacked by gang members’ dogs because they were painting over their graffiti. So sometimes they will use their dogs as weapons.”

While the city recently purchased 24 cameras in graffiti-prone areas, that has not stopped people from tagging on other people’s property.

“They’ve been good deterrents,” Jackson said. “But I wish I could say that we’ve caught someone with the help of the cameras.”

That hasn’t happened though, she added.

The city also spends more than $35,000 in paint and supplies for the graffiti abatement program.

Ortega, who has lived in the city for more than two decades, said graffiti here tends to fluctuate. And there are some areas where graffiti is worse than others.

Ortega said it would be easier to curtail graffiti if it was considered a felony to deface someone’s property. “But it’s not, so [taggers] don’t worry,” he said.

“Sometimes we think that they do it to challenge us,” he said. “We always avoid confrontations, but there have been times when we’ve been approached and told to leave [the graffiti] alone.”

While Ortega and his division are out every single day, when a situation like that arises, he said, they leave it for another day.

“It’s our job, but it’s not worth losing your life over,” he said.

Residents should never confront taggers, Ortega said.

“We encourage residents to just call the division. They can even call anonymously if they want to,” he said. “But at no point, should they confront individuals.”

One father, who asked that his name not be used, said he recently saw young boys painting over graffiti in an alley.

Jackson said that the city does not practice hiring youth to do the job, but that occasionally youth participate in alley cleanup events. Even so, she said, young people are never alone. There are always supervisors and representatives from the Sheriff’s Department present.

She also said that the city has partnered with the Lynwood Unified School District on occasion to conduct alley cleanups or block cleanups. Sometimes, she said, graffiti is removed as part of that event.

Ortega added that at times, the courts will order youth to do community service in Lynwood, which could be a reason for youth doing graffiti cleanup.

When that happens, though, Ortega said, the youth undergo an evaluation to make sure that he is not from the area.

“The city itself does not have the authority to make youth do graffiti clean-up,” Ortega said. “They would have to go through the court system.”

The court system handled all of it, he said. The city can try to control it, can try to stop it, but the city itself can’t make any arrests, nor fine those caught defacing property. It’s all up to the courts, Ortega said.

Taking a strong stance on the saying it’s a job, someone has to do it, Ortega said he is proud to be a member of the division.

While residents complain that the crew does not work fast enough, Ortega reminds residents that there is a process and there are orders that he has to follow before sending crew members out to clean up graffiti.

One thing for sure, he loves Lynwood and loves his job.

“It does get scary at times, especially when youth are becoming more and more violent,” he said. “You never know what can happen. But over the years, I’ve seen it change. I think it will change again.”