SIGNAL HILL : Council OKs Ordinance to Fight Graffiti
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The City Council has approved an anti-graffiti ordinance with more than a dozen measures to limit tagging.
The ordinance will expand the definition of graffiti tools from spray paint to “any implement capable of marking a surface” wider than one-eighth of an inch. Under the plan, minors could be arrested for carrying items such as felt tip pens, paint sticks, adhesive labels and etching tools on school grounds and public and private property without consent of the owner. It will be against the law for an adult other than a parent or guardian to give these items to a minor.
Police Chief Michael McCrary said the new restrictions were prompted by changes in the implements used by taggers, rather than an increase in graffiti. “It’s not strictly a spray-paint business anymore,” he said. Signal Hill has spent about $22,000 a year on graffiti cleanup since 1990.
The ordinance requires the parents of underage vandals to pay for cleanup. Retail stores will be required to keep graffiti implements in locked compartments or face civil suits if the implements are used in a crime.
People who report an act of vandalism from their cellular telephones could receive reimbursement under the plan.
A violation of the ordinance would be a misdemeanor, officials said, with a maximum punishment of $500 or six months in jail, or both.
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