I am an opinion writer, not really a news writer, but I’m going to give you a little of both today! Over a very short period of time, some criminal has been tagging all over Dale City. Graffiti is a cowardly crime, committed by someone with absolutely no respect for anyone or anyone’s property.
The photos that accompany this article are not all of the locations tagged in Dale City. There were many more. You may think this is not a big deal…you’re right! It’s not a big deal. It’s a huge deal, an enormous deal. These figures taken from the Graffiti Hurts website:
A 2006 survey of the 88 cities, Caltrans and Metro in Los Angeles County on graffiti removal found the cost was about $28 million. With a population of close to 10 million, the per capita cost is about $2.80.5 With a population of just under one million, the City of San Jose, CA spent approximately $2 million in 2006 fighting graffiti.
That’s just what the city and county governments spent. It’s not counting what the residents and businesses spent, too. Plus, these figures are nearly six years old, so imagine how much more is being spent now.
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Now, you’re thinking, “But we don’t live in California. It’s nothing like that here.” It could be. I’m sure those people in Los Angeles never dreamed graffiti could become such a detriment. They may have spouted some drivel like, “artistic expression.” They probably didn’t recognize graffiti as the vanguard of gangs, followed by drugs.
Two of the pictures I’ve posted show businesses that will have to remove the graffiti. Who do you suppose pays for that? Well, we all pay for that in higher prices. We all pay for that because I made a report online. (The county had to pay to develop the form and has to pay for the space on the web. The county pays for a web administrator. The county pays for an inspector to visit the site. The county pays to send the report to the gang task force and for someone to analyze it.)
Another photo shows graffiti on an electrical box. Who pays to remove that? The utility company has to get the report from Neighborhood Services, and then dispatch it to an employee to remove it. The utility pays for the cost of paint and it is a continual effort because those boxes are a favorite for taggers.
So, who pays? We all pay. We pay in lower property values, higher taxes, higher prices, and lower community pride.
What can you do about graffiti? The single most important step is report it:
report graffiti here.
Just as important as reporting is removal. Speed is essential. The longer graffiti stays in place the more likely there will be additional graffiti. The county provides an excellent resource page on their website.
More than anything else, I hope you’ll help us catch this criminal. That graffiti at Auto Zone took a little time. It’s plainly visible from the intersection of Dale Boulevard and Minnieville. If someone would have only noticed and called that in, the criminal may have been caught in the act. You can always dial 911 for a crime in progress. If the graffiti crime has already been committed, just use the online form to report it.
This is our community. We’re all in this together. Let’s catch this criminal doing damage to us all.
