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Park covered with graffiti
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman City parks superintendent of operations and maintenance John Bellon assesses damage at Kiwanis Mills Park Friday morning after a rash of tagging throughout the East Main Street area Thursday night. While many of the surfaces can simply be painted over, others, like asphalt, need to be sandblasted. |
By DD BIXBY
H&N Staff Writer
Klamath Falls city maintenance crews spent Friday at Kiwanis Mills Park, cleaning up graffiti tagged on nearly every surface.
The graffiti included symbols of a gang called Surenos, authorities said.
City parks officials were notified Friday morning. The tagging had been reported to the Klamath Falls Police Department Thursday evening. A detective is investigating the case, and city staff believes it will be solved.
Graffiti is a common problem in the Mills Addition and especially at the park, said John Bellon, city parks superintendent of operations and maintenance. The park is adjacent to Reclamation Avenue and Mitchell Street.
“It’s a place they can get some bang for the their buck,” Bellon said, explaining that Kiwanis Mills Park has the heaviest youth traffic in the city parks system.
Benches, basketball backboards, utility boxes and especially the climbing wall often serve as poster boards for vandals and gangs, Bellon said.
“This type of communication is done by gangs for territorial domain and leads to separation of different groups,” he said. “It promotes a lot of dangerous conflict.”
The ongoing vandalism has a direct impact on city residents’ pocket books.
Bellon estimated the damage done Thursday would cost about $1,000 in employee time, paint and resources to clean up. City crews need to sandblast the blacktop basketball court to remove graffiti.
Cleanup
The city and many area business owners believe the best response to the growing gang-related graffiti problem is to cover it up as soon as possible so those responsible don’t get extended exposure.
Bellon estimated at least 16 hours a week are spent mopping up graffiti in local parks.
“This is the most wasted and frustrating pull on our resources.”
The park wasn’t the only part of Mills Addition hit Thursday. Bellon reported that the East Main Street area in general had been targeted.
The graffiti included symbols of a gang called Surenos, authorities said.
City parks officials were notified Friday morning. The tagging had been reported to the Klamath Falls Police Department Thursday evening. A detective is investigating the case, and city staff believes it will be solved.
Graffiti is a common problem in the Mills Addition and especially at the park, said John Bellon, city parks superintendent of operations and maintenance. The park is adjacent to Reclamation Avenue and Mitchell Street.
“It’s a place they can get some bang for the their buck,” Bellon said, explaining that Kiwanis Mills Park has the heaviest youth traffic in the city parks system.
Benches, basketball backboards, utility boxes and especially the climbing wall often serve as poster boards for vandals and gangs, Bellon said.
“This type of communication is done by gangs for territorial domain and leads to separation of different groups,” he said. “It promotes a lot of dangerous conflict.”
The ongoing vandalism has a direct impact on city residents’ pocket books.
Bellon estimated the damage done Thursday would cost about $1,000 in employee time, paint and resources to clean up. City crews need to sandblast the blacktop basketball court to remove graffiti.
Cleanup
The city and many area business owners believe the best response to the growing gang-related graffiti problem is to cover it up as soon as possible so those responsible don’t get extended exposure.
Bellon estimated at least 16 hours a week are spent mopping up graffiti in local parks.
“This is the most wasted and frustrating pull on our resources.”
The park wasn’t the only part of Mills Addition hit Thursday. Bellon reported that the East Main Street area in general had been targeted.
Reader Comments
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pril wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:52 PM:
" wonder how these guys would feel if we all went to their house and spray painted happy faces and teddy bears and rainbows all over their houses. "
bee wrote on Aug 23, 2008 7:27 AM:
" We need to root out these gang members. In my home town the police closed off complete sections of blocks and went in and arrested probation violators, and confiscated weapons. Also persons without proper I.D.s can be detained. We have to start to be real aggressive when it comes to gangs, this means get tough, and send a message to them that they can not get a foot hold in our town. Gangs; will first intimidate, threaten, and then will do acts of violence, kill and drive by shootings all to control an area so they can do their drug trade, burglaries and other crimes. Our court system needs to strengthen its laws to help free up our police to take control of gangs. "
John M. wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:23 AM:
" Has the city considered inexpensive wireless cameras? Seems to me it'd be much cheaper than 1000 a week plus patrol and investigative time. Not to mention increased public safety. It was incredibly sucessful in downtown Ft Worth Texas. They had a camera on every sq inch of an 8 block area. you could walk there anytime of night and feel safe. "
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wrote on Aug 24, 2008 7:57 PM: