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Anti-graffiti upgrades benefit the community
| Monday, Dec 25 2006 8:35 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Dec 25 2006 9:03 PM
Christa Clark moved to the Alta Vista neighborhood in Bakersfield recently from Los Angeles to get the "small-town" feel.
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Bakersfield Police detective Lance O'Nesky checks out some tagging done on the outside wall of an abandoned apartment complex in east Bakersfield that was under renovation.
But she woke up one morning to find graffiti sprayed on her backyard wall.
Clark called the city's graffiti unit, and they were there in an instant, she said.
"I was thrilled with their response," Clark said.
Clark's not the only one.
The anti-graffiti team, a partnership between the Bakersfield Police and Public Works departments, has had a record year of response times and arrests of vandals after being decimated by budget cuts just a few years ago.
What a difference a year makes.
At the beginning of 2006:
* Two police officers were assigned to investigate graffiti. At the end of 2006, there are four, not counting their supervisor, a sergeant.
* About 10 city employees were assigned to clean up graffiti. Now there are 19.
* About 8 trucks were assigned to clean up graffiti. Now there are 12.
The increase of manpower and resources has helped.
By the end of November, the police had arrested more than 230 vandals, compared to about 80 at the same time last year.
And response times to calls from citizens reporting graffiti takes an average of only 24 hours, and can be as fast as 8 hours, said Guy Bowers, graffiti coordinator in the Public Works Department.
City Council asked for the increases in graffiti-eradication in April, after hearing from constituents that vandalism was one the top three concerns of residents: public safety, roads, and graffiti.
During the City Council campaigns in late summer and fall, winning candidates Ken Weir, Irma Carson, David Couch and Zack Scrivner all stressed their commitment to ending graffiti. And incumbents Sue Benham, Jacquie Sullivan and Harold Hanson all listed graffiti as one of their main concerns.
Mayor Harvey Hall has engineered community clean-ups as well.
It's a change from just a few years ago, when the state's budget crisis depleted graffiti fighting efforts throughout the city, said Jessie Ayala, graffiti coordinator in Public Works.
And the changes aren't over.
Right now, the graffiti response team works six days a week, up from five at the beginning of 2006.
In mid- to late-January, the response team will be working seven days a week.
Assisting the response team is the police department. Supervised by Sgt. Chad Jackman, are Detectives Bob Allen and Lance O'Nesky, Senior Officer Chris Bowersox and Officer David Pence.
The detectives joined Bowersox and Pence in June, which accounts for the dramatic rise in arrests.
"(Graffiti) used to be looked at as a misdemeanor property crime," Bowersox said.
Allen added that now, if the police can identify graffiti as being part of a gang, it immediately becomes a felony. And along with the city's community prosecutor program, vandals can see serious jail time.
To request graffiti removal services for your home or business; to request free matching paint with rollers or paint brushes to remove graffiti yourself; or to report a graffiti location, whether it is a wall, sidewalk, curb, light pole, etc., call 32-ERASE (323-7273).
To report graffiti vandalism in progress, call the Bakersfield Police Department at 327-7111. Source: www.bakersfieldgraffiti.us