It really is sad to see this kind of thing and makes Bakersfield and other cities where this happens look trashy and given over to barbarians. But you take your life in your hands trying to deal with it and the police have more serious matters to take care of.

Get the spray cans out of taggers' hands.  If they had to carry a quart can of paint and several brushes around with them at 2:00 am, I think they might be conspicuous as well as no longer inclined to consider it fun to deface others property because it would now require effort and therefore, resemble their worst nightmare:  work.

What would be the downside to requiring retailers to charge a hefty deposit on the purchase of a can of spray paint?  The deposit would be refunded upon the return of the empty container.  Since taggers might be reluctant to return the cans, unclaimed deposits would revert to local grafitti removal and prevention programs to relieve the burden on taxpayers.

Whatdaya think?

Looks to me like you've given this topic some serious thought and it's a positive direction to such a negative action...

:D

I guess Ojo's solution is better than what I had in mind...

If you're caught tagging, you carry a brand, indelible ink all across your palms. That's for the first offense, second, the mark moves to your face.

I live on the east side and am REALLY sick of seeing some idiots initials or street name scrawled over every available surface. Go mark up YOUR OWN house! Sorry, but this subject pushes a button...

Good idea, Ojo.  Why don't you propose that to the city council and/or county supervisors?  The stores selling the spray paint could turn the deposit $$ over to the city or county and the person with the spray paint empties would have to return them to a specific city or county location to get their deposit back.   

ojo, I personally don't like your idea. So me, a law abiding citizen, should have to take a can of spray paint back to the store to get my hefty deposit back? That is ridiculous. There are already enough laws on the books to regulate the sales of spray paint.

Well, Oldblue, what do you have in mind to handle this problem more efficiently?

I can understand you're fustration. I mean, why should law-abiding citizens have to take extra measures due to the stupidity of graffiti artists? It would mean having to go out of our ways just because teenagers can't control their immature spray can frenzies.

All I want is for people to respect Bakersfield for what it is. Yes, our air is deadly and our summers are unbearable, but this is my home and I am sick of gang members and high schoolers treating it as if it was their personal canvas...

I think OjoReal's idea is a good one. I also believe mandatory community service with credits for school plus a small financial benefit to be put into a trust account for either a trade school or higher education should also be considered for all high schoolers.  Most of these teen displays of frustration and anger result from boredom, and the inability to  find any meaningful work.  A program like  Peace Corps or AmeriCorps for  a local county to  pursue  to reach kids before they completely drop out  of society sure beats the later alternatives of a growing prison population and unskilled labor force. Until the community takes a positive approach to the problem there  will be no lasting solution. It is painfully obvious that incarcerating huge percentages of the population is not serving our nation's best interests.

Tagging and Graffiti are two completely different things.  There are many legit graffiti artists out there that would be very offended being grouped together with taggers.

What would be the downside to requiring retailers to charge a hefty deposit on the purchase of a can of spray paint?  The deposit would be refunded upon the return of the empty container. 

.

The downside would be people like me, who occasionally use half a can on the odd project, and would have to "eat" the deposit as the can sat on the shelf in the garage.

I think:  first offense spraypainting someone else's property, donate a kidney to someone who needs one.

Second offense:  same. 

Third offense:  won't be any.

How about this.  When a tagger can be positively identified, rather than punish them we reward them an expenses-paid weekend at Pismo.  Then, while they're gone, we spray paint their house, fences, walls, curbs, sidewalks...anything that stands still.  We can work in shifts if need be.  Just think how happy they will be to find out that we share a common interest!

When my children were little if we passed by graffiti I would tell them something like this..."Look what those bad boys did. Now someone has to paint that over.  When you make someone clean up a mess that you made it is just like stealing.  You are stealing that person's time and you are stealing that person's money because they have to buy paint to cover up the graffiti." Then we would talk about how in the Bible we are told not to steal.  Not everyone agrees with the Bible but there are many ideas to be found there that when followed make life nicer.   We would also talk about how because those "taggers" used spray paint in such a wasteful and useless manner they were polluting the air.  Because when spray paint gets used it puts chemicals into the air.  Now my children know that their mom doesn’t like these bad boys because they steal and they pollute. Do any of you other parents talk to your children about graffiti? Do you say “what a mess” or “what a shame” or do you talk to your children about how it is wrong and they should not do it? Every day brings us opportunities to teach our children. Are you taking advantage of these opportunities?

 ojo, I personally don't like your idea. So me, a law abiding citizen, should have to take a can of spray paint back to the store to get my hefty deposit back? That is ridiculous. There are already enough laws on the books to regulate the sales of spray paint.

Right on OB!

Ojo's idea is just another example of punishing the law abiding for the acts of a rew miscreants.

We have laws on the books to take care of the taggers. Just  ENFORCE THEM!

(And if you think that is already happening, just do some research. You will find they are not  The danger with these seemingly rational responses to crime is that normally rational people like Adam agree with additional laws that really only serve to make life more difficult for normal law abiding cits. They do nothing to get at the root of the problem.)

Bako... There are some cities where these paint cans are not on display.  One must go to a counter and request the paint.  Sort of like having to ask a pharmacist for certain cold remedies.  Now, I don't know if the purchaser must sign for the paint, but it sounds like a good idea to me -- even if a fake name is used.  There are cameras almost everywhere. 

Where I live, spray paint is not on display, but it is in the store for purchase.  Since I've never purchased a can of spray paint in my life, I don't know if one must sign.  Even if you want to touch up your car, you can't just go take the paint off the shelf.  It's a heck of a note, isn't it? 

Think of extra laws this way, though.  Before 9/11/01 we could board a plane almost at will.  Now look at us.

Alicen -- It is against the law to deface other's property (be that private individual or Govt).

There are laws on the books now to deal with the people that do this type of crime.

There are ways to deal with the little scumbags who utilize a can of spray paint to epitomize their existence for all to see........

Were we to get back to basics, and enforce the laws we now have -- the little darlings would be in stir......... they would have no spray cans.........

So, Let us not worry about the  "civil" rights of those like sf, to the point where we have none ourselves.