Maricopa residents volunteer to fight graffiti

Maricopa residents upset about recent graffiti tagging in the city are talking about creating a citizens task force to combat it.

While the city has yet to take any formal action, the head of the park system that was vandalized by taggers this week thinks it might be a good idea. Marty McDonald, Director of Parks, Recreation and Libraries, said residents clearly are upset about graffiti and vandalism, and the city might want to help create the task force to help reduce it.

McDonald said the idea first needs to run through the city’s Public Safety Committee and the City Council.

“The need for a task force is there, but at the same time our already-limited resources are stretched thin,” McDonald said. “Any task force created will need to have significant community involvement. We are working on the long-overdue Park Ambassador program, and the most recent incident at Pacana Park (see related story) has caused us to pause and research how we can utilize Park Ambassadors to combat the graffiti problem.

“There is a great effort under way by Pinal Energy, First Impressions Ink and Ramsey’s American Grill to create an awareness campaign about keeping Maricopa beautiful (see related story). A partnership with them needs to be explored as well. There are a lot of entities that can be involved in this wonderful endeavor.”

The push for a Maricopa citizens graffiti-fighting group sprung up on the inmaricopa.com Forum right after a report about graffiti showing up at Pacana Park.

The initial call came from a poster whose screen name is Mallard, who said:

We have all seen it. We all want to stop it. Graffiti and tagging means gangs and kids getting into trouble. What can we do about it as a neighborhood? I want to ask you, as a community, if you want to make a difference. Here is what I propose: Volunteer for Maricopa graffiti Task force on this thread. Let’s meet with the police on a given night and see how we can help. I do know that painting over graffiti, quickly, is a key to stopping this. (BTW, the last tag I saw was not written by a Californian, it was by someone from Michigan. I know the writing. We need to learn to read the writings on the wall.) With all of this said who wants to volunteer? Can we create this group by May 1st?

His plea produced volunteer response from several other posters.

While Maricopa is new to this process, Phoenix has a graffiti busting team whose goals are to remove graffiti within 48 hours after a new incident being reported and supporting a zero tolerance approach to graffiti.

“If you can remove graffiti within 24 to 48 hours, the vandals realize they’re hitting an area that’s being monitored and they tend to go away,” said David Ramirez, spokesman for the Neighborhoods Services Department.

Phoenix’s Graffiti Reporting Hotline offers a $250 reward for certain information about graffiti vandals. Phoenix has two crews working seven 10-hour shifts a week, said Ramirez, which last year wiped out 48,000 graffiti sites and this year is on track to cover 60,000. He said 80 percent of the taggers are not gangs but kids trying to impress each other.

While the Phoenix crews are paid employees, the Neighborhood Services Department also makes presentations at local schools and helps citizens organize their own graffiti busting groups.

The Phoenix department also provides free paint to cover graffiti, and it loans paint sprayers and trains volunteers in using them. Businesses are involved also. Ramirez pointed to Dan Grubb Ford at 75th Avenue and McDowell, which hired a full-time person who covers graffiti within a five-square-mile area.

In Phoenix, kids caught vandalizing with paint can lose their license until they’re 19, and their parents can be responsible for up to $10,000 in damages.

Information on the Phoenix program can be found at http://phoenix.gov/NBHDPGMS/grafbust.html.
More information can be found at nograffiti.com, a nonprofit organization based in California. Click here to see what the group recommends for citizens and communities to battle graffiti.

Other links:http://nograffiti.com/temp/faq.htm

Interested people in Maricopa can email McDonald directly at [email protected].

Photos by Aaron Thacker