Special "Graffiti-mobiles" Help Catch Taggers - even citizens groups can monitor cameras

[The Straight Story]

Special "Graffiti-mobiles" Help Catch Taggers

The vehicles will look like any other car or truck or van, but inside, a special camera can track the movements of taggers or those who are dumping illegally. The City's Code Enforcement Division is building the new systems.

"If things are caught in the act, which hopefully will happen, and then (we) also have the video backup. It's pretty much a slam-dunk case," said code enforcement officer Noel Eusebio.

The cameras can be monitored and run remotely using a laptop computer, and even citizens groups with the Web address and right code could log on to help monitor areas at high risk of tagging or illegal dumping.

"It's kind of stealth-like, and it'd be nice to kind of turn the tide on the people actually doing the work," said midtown Sacramento architect John Packowski, whose offices have been hit several times.

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=33704

[warrior1]

1. A couple of

weeks ago, my brother and his neighbor got tagged. It was a mess. I had heard that the police had caught 3 of the people in the act.

[shain from kane]

2. Let's arm them with tasers. Tase the taggers. n/t

[opihimoimoi]

3. Send them to Iraq to tag them insurgent buildings.....

[HeeBGBz]

4. What is a tagger? n/t

[Rhythm and Blue]

6. A graffiti artist,

who defaces a surface with a design that serves as his own personal "tag."

[MadHound]

5. I fully understand the problem here, but I'm worried about this solution

Increasingly we're becoming a surveillance society, and I for one don't think that it's a good thing. And now they are proposing letting civilians jump in on the fun? Gee what sort of slippery slopes and abuses will this lead to?

Sorry, can't go along with this one.

[warrior1]

7. Until

some punk tags your property and vehicle. They are a menace. If they want to paint, they should buy a canvas.

[MadHound]

9. You are assuming that I'm not speaking from experience. Don't.

I've lived in what is charitably known as a "borderline neighborhood" and have not only had to deal with graffiti, but also slugs through my windshield from a drive by, among many other "fun" things. Get the picture?

[warrior1]

11. I've had a slug

land on my property also.

How did you deal with the graffiti?

[MadHound]

12. Steel siding is a wonderful thing

It allows the use of many solvents to take off the spray paint. Sure, it was a pain in the ass, but better than some of my neighbors. That's why I always recommend getting a vandalism rider in your home owner's policy. Most siding, like vinyl or shakes, you have to simply replace the painted section with new siding. But steel and aluminum you can take it off yourself(though you might have to spot point).

[warrior1]

13. Problem

for some people like my brother, he is a renter and the home he lives in is a least 80 years old. I'm not sure siding would work. Also, the whole idea is to try and stop them before they can strike again. It seems to be a hopeless and never ending problem. Another friend had her neighborhood, garage doors and cars marked up over night a few months ago. There was a lot of very pissed off people. I'm not sure if these guys were caught. For police, what they are looking for is gangs moving into neighborhoods. I'm not sure if camera's would work.

[warrior1]

8. taggers (not all)

tend to be members of gang and are marking their territory.

[Javaman]

10. About a billion years ago when I lived out in L.A.

I was riding the bus one time and we stopped at a light. No sooner had we come to a rest when the entire bus was swarmed with taggers. It was unreal.

they tagged and left as quickly as the light changed. it was bizarre.