We can get ahead of graffiti with more preventive programs
As the co-founder of God’s Gym (1995) and Project HOPE (2006), Spokane’s primary gang prevention/intervention initiatives, I completely concur with the frustration that Mr. Walker, Ms. Mobley and Mr. Bressler express in terms of the growing presence of street graffiti (Voice, July 30).
As the parent of two teenage boys, and was once one myself, I also completely understand the appeal to be “bad” or the allure of free expression and use of the city as my canvas. (Yes, even my Ferris classmates partook in the late ’60s).
My concerns with the general community conversation are twofold. First, a very important distinction needs to be made between the art of “tagging” and general graffiti. Tagging is a specific language style used primarily by street gangs, whereas graffiti has evolved into a combination of general urban art and/or destruction of property (and sometimes it’s hard to separate the two).
Second, well-designed urban murals can be a very effective way of reducing both tagging and graffiti. Extensive mural efforts in Chicago in the early 1990s accomplished three things in our Uptown neighborhood: They greatly diminished tagging/graffiti along alleys, “L” stops, auto and pedestrian under/overpasses, parks, and select public/private property; they helped visually improve our many long expanses of vacant walls while highlighting the ethnic diversity of America’s No. 2 neighborhood; and they created a pride in place among young and old alike – yes, even the tagging/graffiti crowd.
My recommendation: less money spent on law enforcement and more money spent on preventive community-based solutions, such as murals and yes, meaningful youth engagement (like mentoring and employment).
Programs such as the ESD Summer of Service, NextGen Zone partnership, Workforce Investment Act youth corps, Mentoring Children of Promise, and related self-image, social connectedness and work force development efforts cost 10 percent of law enforcement responses and do have lifelong positive impacts.
When we ask the question, “What went wrong?” this is our response: the breakdown of community, community accountability and community-based solutions, in part because all the financial resources are concentrated in a top-down model.