Friday, July 27, 2007

* Graffiti Artists Caught Red-Handed

Roof Top Tagging



Roof Top Clean-up


Three vandals, posing as graffiti artists, were caught in the early morning hours, after criminally damaging property in the 6300 block of North Broadway. Two offenders tried to escape on the roof of the building, but police called in the fire trucks, using their ladders as assistance to apprehend the alleged suspects.

BLOGNOTES: Criminal damage to property seems like a slap on the wrist for all the man-power these three graffiti artists have caused. First, the police and fire department time and equipment used to capture these three. Then the court time. Not to mention the city services in time and money to remove the defacing caused by the spay-painting trio. I'm told this happens at this location at least once a week. And, I'm told, these weren't local artists.

Question of the day. What would you see as the proper punishment?

16 comments:

The North Coast said...

These might be the same three who have "bombed" prominent walls from Rogers Park all the way down the Red Line to Lincoln Park.

I see the same immense "wild style" block letter stuff on all the marked up walls, lots of stylistic similarity.

Get these 3 losers usefully occupied (making license plates? cafeteria service?)and we might have made a big dent in the amount of graffiti.

However, there are lots more of them and they obviously use the CTA rail right-of-way as a jumping point to access high walls. There should be cameras over the tracks between stations and control towers.

Not only might that save our walls, but it might save the lives of the track-crawlers scribbling allover our walls.

Veronica said...

A nice big fat fine, about 5K for each. And if they can't pay it, which, of course, they can't (though who knows how much drug money they each have), about 100 hours of community service, working with the graffiti removal crews in helping to clean up the graffiti, some of which they probably themselves created. And if they didn't show up for the community service, they would be then jailed instead.

The North Coast said...

I believe it should be such a fine + the 100 hours community service. Either or means they effectively get paid $50/hour for graffitti removal with only 100 hours service. .

Without a fine, 1000 hours of community service. Minimum wage laws don't apply in criminal convictions, so maybe it should be 2000 hours community service.

Plus a month in jail either way.

Anyway you figure it, it doesn't begin to add up to the money and time spent by individual property owners to remove this crap and the fines they could pay if they don't remove it in a timely fashion.

Bill Morton said...

I read an article in the RedEye earlier this week, CITY VS GRAFFITI, that blamed our graffiti problem on graffiti artists. It also went on to mention the graffiti as "art" or "hip-hop culture".

I walk and take pictures of Rogers Park everyday. Most of the graffiti that I see are gang symbols.

Territorial tagging considered as art?

Gang members, considered graffiti artists?

There is something wrong here.

beckyb said...

fine or jail time - they'll do it again. maybe someone should graffiti on their house.

Hillari said...

If the taggers are under 18, then their parents should foot the entire bill for the clean-up, no matter how long it takes them to pay it off.

Someone under 18 most likely doesn't have the money. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of taggers aren't drug dealers or gang members. Community service, involving helping the crews to remove their graffiti (that their parents have paid to clean) is appropriate.

Someone over 18? They have to come out of their pocket to clean it up, plus have to do a long-term community service project. Double the fee and community service time if the graffiti was gang-related.

proGun said...

Maybe we should divide the city into say 50 sections and elect an official from each section.
Each official would be part of a legislative branch.
These elected officials could then collaborate on fines and punishments for crimes committed in their sections.
They could inform the residents of that section on City laws.
There should be an office located in each section where residents could research laws and other section oriented business.

There might even be a website to research laws and ordinances that common citizens could access to do research.

The North Coast said...

I believe we already have divided the city into 50 sections, which are referred to as "wards" and each one has an elected official called an "alderman".

Let's call upon our own alderman to get together with other similar officials to devise appropriate fines and penalties.

Catherine on Eastlake said...

pro gun.. you're funny!

:D

Bill Morton said...

Boxing Tomboy said...
"Contrary to popular belief, the majority of taggers aren't drug dealers or gang members".

I'm not so sure about this. Check out some of my recent pictures of Rogers Park graffiti. Does it look like most of it is gang related, art, or hip-hop culture?

rp1000.blogspot.com

proGun said...

It is really difficult to be sarcastic in print.
Rhymes with Lunt.
Hey Joe lets talk about this and other crimes recently reported here.
Great job by the police in catching criminals.
Now lets come up with punishments.
I vote community service.

Catherine on Eastlake said...

i got it. :)

CNB said...

What's the difference between these graffiti taggers and CPAG? These guys didn't go through weeks of committee meetings, they didn't take money from local SSA members, they don't pretend they're doing this "for the community," and DevCorp gets no kick back from them.

Hillari said...

Bill,

The real elaborate, colorful graffiti is art. The scribbles, and symbols like crowns for example, is gang-related.

Natas said...

How much did it cost to bail out your nephew Craigie Poo?

Painttheworld said...

Ok, i understand that defacing public or private property is wrong, but why do people panic when street art is being produced with great talent, we encourage children to be creative, but only in the boundaries we allow, let them be themselves, without restraints who knows what great things can come along, let them do art let there minds become creative, a public area reserved for painting would solve this problem like a paint park were people can go and paint there work, every month it be painted over for the new artists, it would be like a outdoor museum.

'Broken Heart' Past Blogs