Tiffany Brown / FILE PHOTO
Graffiti costs Southern Nevada $30 million a year, according to Scott Black, a Metro Police detective who supports proposed legislation that increases penalties.
Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Storm Drain Gallery: Vegas' Graffiti Underground
For more than two decades graffiti writers from Las Vegas and beyond have been venturing almost a mile into the dark and dank storm drains under the glittering Las Vegas Strip to spray paint extravagant murals and quick scribbles in what has become Las Vegas' most intriguing art gallery. An unpredictable world lit only by the light they carry and occasional street grates, these graffiti writers find the fame by each other and the ever-present unknown of the storm drains.
Reader poll
Beyond the Sun
Ricki Barlow does not propose that graffiti taggers have their thumbs cut off on TV, as Mayor Oscar Goodman once suggested.
But an ordinance put forth by the Las Vegas councilman seems to go to every length shy of that to fight what Metro Police say is a rising scourge of local taggers.
“There’s been an influx of graffiti all over the walls of public and private property” in Ward 5, which includes much of downtown Las Vegas, Barlow said. “I want to send a clear message to those committing these silly crimes.”
The law currently provides for fines of $500 to $1,000 and up to six months in jail for graffiti taggers, though first-time or nonviolent taggers rarely get jail time.
Barlow’s proposal, introduced at Wednesday’s council meeting, would add several penalties for tagging.
The measure would mandate that first-time offenders pay a fine of at least $400 and perform 100 hours of community service. For second and third offenses, the fines would rise to at least $750 and $1,000, respectively, and the tagger would have to perform 200 hours of community service.
And, the parents or legal guardian of any tagger younger than 18 would be responsible for “all fines and penalties” imposed against the minor. If a parent were unable to pay, the court could require him to perform community service.
There’s more. The proposed ordinance also mandates that a judge suspend the convicted tagger’s driver’s license for six months to two years. Taggers who don’t yet have licenses wouldn’t be able to apply for them for that length of time after they normally could.
The proposal also would expand the definition of graffiti to include any unauthorized “etch” or “scratch” on a building, fence, wall, etc. And it would apply not just to people caught tagging, but anyone carrying a “graffiti implement” with the intent to tag, vandalize or deface such property.
Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he has several problems with the proposal.
First, parents can’t be held responsible for the crimes of their minor children. “It’s improper and illegal,” he said.
Taking away taggers’ driver’s licenses could have adverse consequences. In a region where a car is often vital for basic transportation, “it’s less likely they’ll be going to school, and less likely they’ll be going to work,” Lichtenstein said. “And that could well be counterproductive for the community.”
Detective Scott Black, a graffiti investigator with Metro’s Gang Crimes Bureau, said he supports Barlow’s ordinance. He said that as the region’s population has increased, graffiti has become a larger problem.
Graffiti costs Southern Nevada $30 million a year, he said. In 2007, Metro officers made just more than 500 graffiti-related arrests. This year, he said, he expects as many as 600.
According to Black, there has been a recent culture shift at Metro on graffiti. It started at the police academy, where he said officers-in-training are now told “to arrest these guys, period. There are no more warnings for graffiti vandals.”
Black said tougher penalties are necessary because of the serial nature of the crime and the violence that can accompany it when “tag crews” clash.
The graffiti ordinance, which must go through a recommending committee and then back to the full council before it faces a vote, is not the first effort by Nevada politicians to address the issue.
Last year, the Legislature increased penalties for graffiti vandalism, and — like the city’s proposal — criminalized the possession of graffiti “implements,” such as spray paint, near public facilities, bridges, overpasses and the like.
Goodman may have set the tone for the anti-graffiti fervor when, in 2005, he told a television journalist in Reno, “Maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb. That may be the right thing to do.”
Barlow discounted Goodman’s remarks as a humorous attempt to highlight the issue.
The issue came to Barlow’s attention during meetings with constituents, who tell him story after story about defaced property and the cost of cleaning up the mess.
He said he wanted the proposal’s penalties to be even tougher but the city attorney’s office advised against it. The measure is likely to garner council support, given previous public statements by several council members.
“At some point, someone has to stop turning their head,” Barlow said. “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired about this.”
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy