A south San Diego resident has taken his frustration with graffiti online in an effort to catch the vandals defacing his neighborhood.
JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune
San Diego city utility worker Anvil Thomas used pressurized water on pretreated graffiti on Elm Street in south San Diego. A concerned resident is crusading against graffiti vandals through his Web site.
|
Activist Rodel Reyes spent two days and $100 creating his anti-graffiti Web site, which shows images of gang or tagger names spray-painted on fences, freeway signs, Dumpsters and other surfaces around Nestor and Otay Mesa.
The Web site, launched Nov. 19, invites the public to look at the photos and share any information with the San Diego Police Department. Residents can send comments or photos to Reyes for possible publication.
Although the Web site spurns law enforcement advice by displaying dozens of examples of graffiti, it is a hit with viewers, police, the District Attorney's Office and City Councilman Ben Hueso.
“I just see him as a concerned citizen who wants to help solve the problem,” said San Diego police Officer Bryan Roberts, who serves on the city's Graffiti Task Force.
At 41, Reyes is not a professional Web designer. He said he just wanted to help stop chronic graffiti vandalism, which has unnerved him and hundreds of other residents in south San Diego.
Law enforcement officials usually worry that publishing graffiti images could encourage similar vandalism or give glory to the perpetrators.
Publishing photos “gives taggers what they want: publicity,” Roberts said. “But the way it's presented on (Reyes') Web site, as a problem, is different. I don't see it as hurting us in any way.”
Roberts said he is frustrated that vandals he had arrested are often back on the streets days later, spray-painting more graffiti.
“I would hope that the court would hold the parents responsible,” he said. “But after I arrest them, it's out of my hands.”
Reyes said the city's current solution of quickly painting over or sandblasting graffiti doesn't work. He also contends that people convicted of such crimes should serve time in juvenile hall or jail, rather than just being ordered to pay fines and restitution.
Under state law, graffiti vandalism can be punished by up to a year in jail, and by fines of up to $50,000. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said judges rarely sentence those convicted for graffiti to jail.
Reyes believes graffiti has lowered property values in his Egger Highlands neighborhood near Nestor. Local housing experts said they know of no studies calculating graffiti's effect on property values.
During the past year, Reyes has served as a volunteer member of the Otay Valley Regional Park Citizen Advisory Committee, and was among several people who organized a Sept. 26 meeting on graffiti that attracted a crowd of more than 130 people.
Steven Schroeder, 64, helped organize September's meeting.
“We're tired of our neighborhood looking like a ghetto,” Schroeder said.
Since its inception, Reyes said, the Web site has earned warm reviews from the public. Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort and Hueso also like it.
Dort called the Web site “an important first step” in fighting the problem because it will allow community members to take an “active role” in cleaning it up. He did warn that photographing graffiti vandals in action could be dangerous, even deadly.
Hueso represents District 8, which covers much of south and southeast San Diego. He said graffiti has long been a serious problem.
“It is costing us millions and millions of dollars,” Hueso said. “Rodel has taken it upon himself to create a Web site to help stop it.”
Hueso said he too has struggled with graffiti near his home in Barrio Logan, and often jogs or walks his neighborhood streets to jot down where he sees such vandalism.
“I'm very sympathetic, because I live with this problem every single day,” Hueso said.
Reyes acknowledged the compliments but said “we don't need any more praise.”
“This fight against graffiti vandalism will ultimately be won in the political arena by electing officials who want to put these taggers in jail or juvenile hall,” Reyes said.
Mark Arner: (619) 542-4556; mark.arner@uniontrib.com
