Capt. Sandra Tong: Police Beat

The war against "taggers"
On Feb. 21, at the Richmond Station's monthly community meeting, officer Christopher Putz of the San Francisco Police Department's Graffiti Abatement Unit presented a dynamic and informative presentation regarding the City's efforts to combat graffiti in the community. The following is a summary of Putz's presentation:

The City Gets Tough
The SF Police Department (SFPD) believes that graffiti vandalism is a serious crime. Vandalizing someone's property is similar to stealing from them. The vandal has effectively taken a person's time and money, not to mention the emotional toll it takes on the victim. Anger seems to top the list of results.

The SFPD actively pursues graffiti investigations with zero tolerance by seeking search warrants for the arrest of chronic repeat offenders who vandalize the City. We recognize that graffiti/vandalism and litter greatly contribute to the decay and blight of our neighborhoods. We care about this City, its merchants and residents. We have solved many cases thanks to proactive neighbors.

For a time, Geary Boulevard was hit night after night by a vandal with the tag "RAZOE."

David Heller, president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants Association, soon contacted us and provided photographs of the damages. A volunteer anti-graffiti buster spent numerous hours cleaning RAZOE graffiti and he also gave us additional photos. The case took quite some time to solve, but eventually we served a search warrant in the Richmond District, collected incriminating evidence and arrested the suspect. The victims received restitution and the case was a success for everyone involved.

Of course, there are many cases that go unsolved, but community involvement is essential to our future success. These are tough cases to solve if the vandal is not caught in the act. But times have changed, and gone are the days when you had to catch the vandal spraying a building. Those are still good cases, but we now also focus on cold cases. We examine the writing styles and the information we gain from viewing the actual graffiti, known as a tag, which often contains useful clues.

To help win this war, we have formed tight relationships with numerous community groups, including the SF Department of Public Works. We also work closely with the District Attorney's Office to ensure misdemeanor and felony property-crime cases are prosecuted. And we recently instituted Court Watch, a program that invites the public to go to court in order to support the district attorney in prosecuting this type of crime.

When the judge learns that community members are observing the proceedings, this issue often gets more serious.

The following tips can help reduce vandalism:
á Remove the graffiti right away after photographing it for documentation;
á Install more lighting and cameras (even if the camera isn't working, make it look functional);
á Consider installing a clear, protective coating over street-level windows to protect them against scratches and acid etching (contact a glass installer for information on this product );
á File a police report at www.sfgov.org; then select "Police Agency" and go to "On Line Reporting;"
á Call the SFPD at (415) 553-0123 to meet with an officer and file an official report if you don't want to do it online;
á Call 911 if the crime is in-progress and the vandal is causing substantial property damage (non-emergency number is 553-0123;
á Be willing to testify if there is an arrest.
á Call the DPW at (415) 28-CLEAN to report graffiti on public property or e-mail them at 28clean@sfgov.org. also good to report overflowing city garbage cans;
á E-mail photos of the vandalism to sfpd_graffiti_unit@pacbell.net so we know what type of graffiti is in your area without making an official police report;
á Call SFPD's Graffiti Abatement team at (415) 278-9454 if you have questions.

The next Community Police Forum will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 7 p.m., in the Richmond Station's community meeting room. Inspectors Jamison Pon and Mario Molina, from the city's gang task force will give an overview of gang activity in the district and related safety tips.

Capt. Sandra Tong is the commanding officer at the Richmond Police Station.