Caught Red-Handed

Gang tags are an increasingly annoying problem on my little block of Natoma St. A group of kids down the street has come of age, and was recruited by a local Norteno to "bring back" Natoma. They've been tagging up the block, I've been removing the tags, and our game has gone on for the better part of a year. Recently, the Sureno gang has been tagging up the block trying to start a confrontation with the Norteno kids. It's been a source of concern for me, as I don't want a gang war flaring up on my block.

I had been meaning to get my supplies out for the last week and clean up several non-gang tags at the end of Natoma at 15th St. Yesterday I pulled out my rig and started cleaning up a tag on my neighbor's building. My other neighbor Rex came by to help, and as we talked I noticed two kids in blue walking up the street towards us. One of them bent down and spray painted something on the sidewalk. I was incredulous...

"Did he really just spray a tag right in front of us, in broad daylight?" I asked Rex.

The pair walked between Rex and I, threatened and sneered at Rex, then walked towards 14th St. We looked at each other and both dialed the police, then started following the pair as they walked Westbound on 14th. They stopped in front of another building and tagged it...again, in broad daylight, with several people watching. The pair noticed us following, then fled across Mission St, into the entrance ot The Armory. Rex and I waited across the street, still on the phone with police dispatch. A 14 Mission bus arrived, and the pair threw their spray can under it, boarded the bus, and tried to flee. Rex held the bus up a bit, and the police soon showed up. We pointed out the now-moving bus, and the police stopped it at the next intersection and puled the kids off the bus. We walked up, identified the taggers, and watched them get arrested.

Returning to Natoma St, we noticed that they had tagged several garages and residences on the street...with Sureno tags. That many tags adds up to felony charges for those two, and Rex and I were credited with a citizens arrest. We gave our statement, and found out that one of the kids had been taunting one of the responding officers in court just a few days earlier. Karma's a bitch, eh?

15th Street...A Problem Area

Many of the private residences in the area of 15th and Shotwell are daily targets for taggers. I've noticed the evolution of tags there, and the vandals seem to be making their way up 15th St towards Valencia, leaving tags as they go along. I called a few of the property management companies listed on buildings today, and they were lukewarm towards the idea of cleaning up tags on their own buildings. Centerstone properties seems to own several buildings in the area. I'm hoping they'll be more vigilant in cleaning up tags...especially since I'm going to be on their case from now on.

Sometimes It's All Worth It

14th and Mission is a bit of a tagger hot spot. I regularly paint the mailboxes and garbage can outside the Ace Cafe. Today I finished covering several tags on the garbage bin, went down Mission to remove other tags, and came back to the intersection on my way home. I noticed 8 youths hanging around the garbage can, moving my wet paint signs. Then one of them tagged the can again, where I had painted 10 minutes before. They hadn't noticed me...until I walked up, told them that they might want to get off the garbage can.

"It ain't wet" said the one who had tagged the can.

"It's about to be." was my reply...whereupon I took out my roller, and painted right over the tag he had just made.

That was satisfying...

All Quiet on the Eastern Front...Almost

It's been a quiet couple of weeks. Most of the graffiti has been on private property, and people are generally leaving the poles, garbage cans, and utility boxes alone in my little patch of coverage. I've been spending about 2-3 hours a week abating tags, and I find myself in the occasional battle with local tagging crews: I'll abate their tags, and they'll spend time tagging something else. I'll abate that, then they'll hit it again. I've gotten to know a few of the tags intimately. It's strange how branding plays into it.

Bastards!

I know I shouldn't get too emotional about vandalism, but this one really irks me. I painted over a particular stoplight control box the other day. While walking past it today I noticed an entirely new set of tags...less than a day old. My wet paint sign was still there. I had to get on top of this. On with the safety vest, get the paints into the cart, and around the neighborhood again. I noticed a few new tags, painted them, and made parts of the neighborhood look nice again. We'll see how long it lasts.

Garbage Can Green

Taggers love to hit up city trash receptacles. I've found one particular can on 14th St that seems to attract more than its share of tags. I'll paint it over one day, only to find it tagged the next. I painted it Sunday, only to find it tagged Monday. Surprisingly, none of the other 2 cans on the same block were tagged. Maybe it's because of the convenience store this can sits in front of? Or maybe someone lives nearby and is claiming this turf. Either way, I don't care...I'll keep painting it. I'll probably need to get some more garbage can green.

Calling It In

I spent a good amount of time this morning entering new private property tags on the city's 311 site. I gathered several notes from my Saturday run around the neighborhood, and I was able to file about 7 tickets today. I haven't had the best of luck reporting things on line, but we'll see where it goes.

Strange Looks, A Few Thank-You's

I spent the better part of 2 1/2 hours abating Graffiti yesterday. I focused on the area bordered by Mission, South Van Ness, 15th, and 13th Streets. Tags on public property are rampant in this area. Signs, light poles, fire hydrants, mailboxes, utility closets, and just about everything else has been tagged. And a good deal of private property has been tagged an unabated as well. I painted & cleaned what I could, and called in the private property. I'm operating on the theory that the initial push to clean up the neighborhood will be hard, but that by staying on top of things we should be able to keep it clean.

That said, it'd be nice to have a few more people helping in the neighborhood.

Taggers Beware

I hate graffiti. Sure, some people think it's art. Others don't notice it. I despise it. I've never been overly impressed with the fact that someone can make up a name, stylize the text of that name, then write it on a wall. And when they write it on my wall, it irritates me even more. I've chased my share of taggers away from my house, but they always come back. They hit houses and businesses, and some of them don't bother to clean it up. That makes it even worse. Here are a few egregious examples from around my block:











I recently joined San Francisco's Graffiti Watch program, which provides me with supplies to abate graffiti on public property in my neighborhood. I've also been using seeclickfix to track some items that I can't do anything about. That's my version of public service: making my own neighborhood better...one pothole or tag at a time.