Vandalism and Vigilanties
Vandalism is a fairly common crime pretty much anywhere you have the proper concentration of people. Once a community reaches a certain critical mass, some members will be unable to resist the urge to paint on the walls, to declare their love or promise revenge or swear fealty, or just to be obnoxious and hope someone notices them.
It’s an urge that exists deep down somewhere in the lizardy parts of the brain, the same part that compelled early man to paint on cave walls and still motivates young children to ruin expensive paint jobs.
Anyone who walks or drives the streets of Ukiah, and has their eyes open, has probably seen our local graffiti. Tags are everywhere and range from gang sigils to errantly scrawled felt tip designs to the infamous “NINJAZ.”
There is an electrical box across the street from my office and I often run by it in the mornings. Like the dumpsters nearby it is intermittently covered with a spastic scribble of ink. What the authors of these scribbles are attempting to convey I don’t really know. I don’t honestly pay that much attention to them, they’re just part of the landscape.
A couple of weeks ago this particular electrical box caught my eye. Not because of the graffiti, but because of this.
The text reads as follows;
“Hey Gangsta’,
When we catch you in the act of taggin this spot -- and we will catch you -- you will wish the cops got you first. This is not your turf! We are watching you.
--the posse”
I can’t really be sure what effect the artists of this particular graffiti were hoping to elicit, but I can’t help but think that something like this is pretty close to the mark. Most graffiti artists are young and I would imagine they take a real joy in annoying or angering the parent society.
What “the posse” wants seems fairly obvious, assuming the note is genuine. This electrical box sits on the edge of a fairly nice residential neighborhood and is the only thing I’ve ever seen with graffiti on it. They want to protect their homes and their kids and their property values.
These are legitimate concerns but choosing to be a vigilante is very rarely an effective answer.
In truth, I doubt the members of “the posse” would really be willing to take a crowbar to the heads of potential taggers, but the note is an indication of a wider and deeper feeling than just fear and rage.
Vigilante thinking and behavior can occur pretty much anytime people get the feeling that the authorities aren’t doing anything. It only requires the appearance of inaction, not inaction itself.
Law enforcement in Mendocino County do investigate reports of vandalism and they do make arrests. I should know, I see their activity in the police logs.
Some of the blame for any feelings of helplessness and rage probably fall on me. I don’t report on vandalism much and rarely record the arrests that are made, giving the appearance that nothing is done.
There is an almost endless supply of teenagers willing to ink their defiance on the walls but anyone who chooses to act outside the law will have to accept that they no longer enjoy its protection.
Comments
The posse must have a lot of free time on its hands to be able to keep a 24-hour surveillance on the electrical box across the street.
My advice to the posse and the taggers is to do what your parents did...get a JOB sir. The bums will always loose!
Posted by: Rob | April 21, 2008 05:04 PM