Denver graffiti-removal crews could seek access to private property after three days and charge the owners for cleanup under recommendations developed in hopes of eliminating graffiti in three years.
The three-day window would be used to target abandoned property or owners who routinely fail to remove graffiti and is not intended to “double victimize” those who are vandalized, City Councilwoman Judy Montero said.
“This is for the most part the chronic offenders,” Montero said at a Monday briefing for the City Council. “This is not directed at responsible owners.”
The city removes reported graffiti for free, but this change would allow officials to ask for a court order to clean areas that a community deems an eyesore.
The recommendation is one of 13 submitted Monday to the City Council by a graffiti task force pushing for a comprehensive approach to fight what many neighborhoods have identified as the No. 1 menace.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t get e-mails about graffiti,” Montero said.
Another recommended change was better record-keeping for graffiti crimes. Currently, graffiti falls under the umbrella crimes of vandalism or mischief. The group would ask police to note when a graffiti crime occurs, similar to the way they link some other crimes to gang activity.
The task force also recommended an oversight board to help coordinate the city’s response; a $500 fine – double the current penalty for first-time offenders; and a mandatory minimum of 40 hours of community service for first-time offenders.
The task force would have offenders meet with their victims and community members in hopes of preventing future graffiti. And it is asking the city to lobby the state to allow victims to sue taggers for damages in civil court.
The group also is attempting to address why people – often young people – turn to spray-painting private property. Educational programs through probation offices, recreation centers and schools are also among the recommendations.
It is urging that some kind of creative alternative be provided for youth who choose graffiti as a means of expression.
“There is an art medium that is graffiti,” said Regina Huerter, a task-force member and the executive director of the city’s crime prevention and control commission. “What we are after is graffiti vandalism. You can’t just tell kids that they can’t do art … but it needs to be done in a way that the city can support.”
The task force grew out of a summit convened by Mayor John Hickenlooper last fall in response to a 50 percent increase in graffiti reports last year.
In one quarter – the first three months of 2006 – graffiti reports increased from 3,300 to 5,300 over the same quarter in 2005.
Denver spends about $1 million a year removing graffiti, which ranges from scribbles left by teens with markers to spray-painted gang territory markings and urban art.
Many 2007 City Council candidates made fighting graffiti central platforms of their campaigns.
Huerter said there could be a need for additional staff to implement the task force’s plans, but she said the group did not discuss budget specifics.
City Council members on Monday were collectively pleased to see a comprehensive plan, but some ideas met resistance.
Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said her constituents “have no interest in having walls where people can express art on.”
She noted a presentation at last year’s summit in which San Jose, Calif., graffiti coordinator Rob Boyles said a similar effort was stopped after three days because of increased vandalism in the area.
Councilman Doug Linkhart termed the community-service penalty for damaging property “pretty extreme.”
“It is easy to sit here to say, ‘Lock ’em up, cut off their thumbs,”‘ he said.
And Linkhart said the way the current changes are worded, any damage to public or private property could warrant a $500 fine.
Council members said they plan to meet with the mayor about the proposal.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
Working to erase the scrawls
A Denver graffiti task force has made recommendations to reach its vision of a city without graffiti in three years.
The panel used a three-pronged approach:
Prevention:
A body or board to coordinate Denver’s response
Positive art opportunities for young people
An education program through probation offices, recreation centers and schools
Enforcement:
A package of changes for law enforcement, including punishment including doubled fines and a minimum of 40 hours community service
A restorative justice program in which offenders would meet with victims and community members
Encouragement of community efforts, such as police-coordinated neighborhood stings
Lobbying state government to allow victims to sue taggers for damages in civil court
Developing data tracking methods to link repeat offenders to previous crimes
Removal:
Business and property owners would have a three-day window to remove or report graffiti. The city could seek a court order to gain access to private property at sites where graffiti is not removed.
