Writing Shotgun

GRAFFITI STAINS: GONE IN 24 HOURS…OR NOT

Nicole ThomasTue. June 17
 

During the wee hours of the morning on June 5th, anti-war graffiti was removed from a military recruitment center on Pine Ave. and 6th St. Though community development director Dennis Thys claims that this was strictly routine, the story leaves a few questions unanswered.

Long Beach graffiti is handled by the Graffiti Removal Program through a contract with Graffiti Protective Coatings (GPC), a company that receives most of its funding through federal community development funds and general city funds. GPC provides paint for residents with blemished property as well as actually removing the stains of young ne’er-do-wells. Says Thys, “For the most part, we’re attempting to remove graffiti within 24 hours.” He adds that the removers are always on the look-out for more graffiti to take down on the way to provide removal services. So, there should be more-or-less no visible graffiti in Long Beach, right?

Well, I called in two graffiti locations using Graffiti Removal’s Hotline [(562) 570-2773] on Monday, June 9, specifying the locations in detail. This graffiti is on Atlantic Ave. south of Willow St. in front of Louisiana Fish. As I stated during the call, Louisiana Fish sports a large “BP” which stands for the gang Barrio Pobre. Since gang graffiti is never condoned, the graffiti should have been gone within 24 hours, right? Well, as of June 16, a full week after the graffiti was reported, the graffiti remains. In fact, now it’s even worse. A rival gang seems to have covered the “BP” with its own sign, and that’s just asking for hostility. Why is the graffiti still there? Thys did say that obstructions could delay removal: “Things like having cars blocking the access for our main contractors to remove the graffiti or situations where they can’t gain access may delay us from [removing graffiti],” but there was nothing to obstruct removal in either location. Why is the city taking so long to respond?

It’s great for the Graffiti Removal Program to try to remove graffiti within 24 hours, but I have to wonder why the recruitment center’s graffiti was treated differently than the stuff I called in. Does private property get a higher priority? Or is there a different criteria? How many gang symbols are left untouched while the recruitment facilities get washed clean?

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  • It's important to call the hotline if you want the tagger caught and prosecuted. My understanding is that the Graffiti Hotline folks are supposed to document the graffiti and then the City will prosecute the taggers after the city has documented enough damage that the graffiti artist has committed a felony. I'm not sure on the dollar amount, but I think it's $5,000. This explains why you'll see an "artist's" work over and over until they are stopped.
    I know that when I call the graffiti hotline from the offending tag is usually removed with in a week or so.
  • RKJ
    I've called GPC numerous times, they've most always been out within a day or two max (area is Bixby Knolls). I'm sure there are areas/times when this is not the case. But... what about this idea... heavily increasing the penalty for tagging/graffiti. I mean real heavy, like jail time/community service etc. Make it very painful to committ this crime. No fines etc... these people can't pay attention much less pay a fine. Lets try addressing the real problem here at its source, not just the cover up of the crime. No pun intended.
  • Andy
    I've called the Graffiti folks several times, because building owners won't take care of it themselves. They've always gotten to it within a week and the neighborhoods are better for having this program.

    This really isn't an issue, the graffiti on the recruiting center got media attention, so it got removed. Yeah, it's a higher priority, no big deal. No story here, nice try, though.
  • anon
    FYI, his name is Dennis Thys, not David. Sloppy reporting!
  • Dave in Alamitos Beach
    I've called the graffiti hotline many, many times because of the graffiti that is always in my neighborhood. I don't believe they have ever showed up. After a week or so, I tend to get really nervous with all the gang graffiti and just end up painting over it myself. I've probably done it 50 times in the last five years. Oh, and if it matters, I live next door to a fire station. It's no deterrance.

    But by far my biggest concern is that because GPC is not a city organization, there is no way for me to tell if the amount and type of graffiti is being reported to the LBPD. I would think they'd want to know about it, both as a crime itself and as a marker for future crime.
  • Sam_Lowry
    Back in late 2006, there was a big dog-and-pony show announcing the outsourcing of graffiti removal from city employees to GPC. What a big show it was . . . promises of 24-hour response to all reports of graffiti, demonstrations of all the chemicals and potions that, allegedly, only GPC could use to eliminate the scourge of graffiti from Long Beach. Since it was the typical private-enterprise-over-goverment-sloth story, it got huge coverage in the PT and the LBReport. Even the most labor-friendly of our elected officials joined in the orgy.

    And now, the result . . . good paying city jobs were lost in exchange for lower paying positions with GPC, graffiti removal is no better or faster now than it was two years ago, and Long Beach is now locked in with GPC for the remainder of the contract, giving GPC little incentive to fix the service, and taking most leverage from City Hall to demand improvement. The only winner here is GPC.

    Think about that the next time that City Hall gets the bright idea to outsource.
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