Crime and Quality of Life

By Melissa Ann Melendez

FACTS

Property owners are faced with the cost and task of cleaning up graffiti.

Individuals and identifiable groups are hurt by discriminatory or hateful messages.

Graffiti ruins the natural and architectural beauty of our city.

Acts of vandalism decrease the city's attractiveness as a place to visit, conduct business and invest in.

Graffiti has an adverse effect on the quality of life, creating an impression of disorder and chaos.

Graffiti vandalism can be a precursor to more serious acts of crime and violence.

Damage caused by graffiti-related vandalism depreciates the value of the property it defaces and costs the city and property owners thousands of dollars in clean-up expenses each year.

Graffiti "tags" have become a means of communication for drug dealers and gangs.

It is my desire to work with state and local law enforcement officials, using the best practices of other Southern California cities in fighting this type of crime. We need a true Graffiti Abatement Program, not just a graffiti removal service. The formation of a Graffiti Task Force is the first step. The city of Garden Grove implemented this system, and reports they quadrupled the number of arrests made for graffiti in the first two years.

A coordinated effort between city and law enforcement officials in an anti-graffiti program will combine prevention and education, strict enforcement, removal, surveying, technical solutions, and community outreach. All citizens of Lake Elsinore must take a proactive stance in fighting this crime. Introducing a Graffiti Reward Program that will reward citizens who report (not approach) taggers and graffiti artists will serve to enhance the efforts of a Graffiti Task Force. We, as a community, must work with law enforcement and together, take our city back from these criminals.