Parents of Tagger

As you drive to work each morning, you see the eyesore created by the overnight activities of most prolific group of graffiti vandals in your neighborhood. Do you think of your own teenage son or daughter and ask yourself the questions, "Is my son or daughter involved in this criminal activity?" Well, maybe you should! If you think that your kids could not possibly be taggers, think again. Taggers are generally members of small loosely knit groups of adolescents, many from middle and upper income families, whose primary source of entertainment and excitement is the vandalism of private property with "Tagger Graffiti." Your child could be a member of one of these groups.

"How do I find out if my kids are tagging?" you ask. A simple investigation of your child's room and personal property could lead to an answer. Does your child create and keep cartoon-like art in a folder or sketchbook? These books are called "piece books" and are often used to practice graffiti prior to a planned act of vandalism.

Does your child have a nickname that is primarily used by his or her friends? Does he or she write scribbled words with a marker on items of personal property, like shoes, notebooks, hats, and book covers? Active taggers generally record their tag names and tag names of their friends in such places. If you see this writing, look for similar writing on the walls and curbing in the neighborhood near your home or near the school that your child attends.

Does your child have access to spray paint? Does he have a collection of paint can spray tips? This is common practice amongst taggers. Does your child sneak out of the house late at night to spend time with his friends? Where do they go? What do they do? If your child is out of control in this way, the chances are very strong that he or she is involved in graffiti vandalism.

Obviously, each of these factors, alone, does not necessarily point to tagging; however, together they make a commissioning circumstantial case. As a parent, you have a legal and moral responsibility to find out what your child is doing when he or she is not a home. If you do not know you should find out for the child's sake, as well as your own, since you may be civilly or criminally liable for your failure to control the child's behavior.

There are three distinct types of graffiti vandalism and motivations:

• Hate Crime Graffiti - This graffiti is motivated by personal or group prejudice, hatred, dispute, racial or religious discrimination, and is the rarest type.
• Gang Graffiti - This graffiti is generally perpetrated by members of violent street gangs whose primary purpose is to announce the superiority of a specific street gang in a specific neighborhood, the gang's "turf."
• Tagger Graffiti - This graffiti is committed by individuals and groups of kids for the sole purpose of establishing identity and recognition for themselves among their peers, generally other taggers. Putting their tag names up in highly visible areas or dangerous places increases the recognition, or "fame" value of the effort.

The individual taggers adopt pseudonyms or nicknames, usually four to six letters, like "Syke," "Waxx," "Krono," "Popz", "Jagz," numbers can be used as well, like "532" and "301." The number of displays or the size of the area in which the graffiti appears measures the prestige of the individual tagger or crew. Taggers usually associate with other taggers in groups called crews.

Tagger "crews" usually adopt a name comprised of two or three words, like "Clever Writing Kings," "Artists Causing Hype," and write their crew name initials like "CWK," "ACH," or "PCK," Tagging crew names can also be in the form of numbers such as,
OPU or "Oxnard Piecers Unite" can be "678K." The numbers 678 correspond with the letter OPU on a telephone. The K is for crew or "krew" which is often misspelled. A tagger can have two nicknames and may belong to several tagging crews at once. There may be several tag names and/or crew names put up by the taggers on the same incident.

Tagger crews, unlike gangs, are usually not territorial, and individual taggers will display their "art" wherever they find a clean wall or window. They are usually fond of a newly painted wall where previous graffiti has been freshly removed. Due to the danger of being observed or arrested, most individual taggers will apply their trade in the hours between midnight and dawn. Of special interest to taggers are billboards or tops of areas of high buildings where their tag can be see for a long distance. Removal is difficult in these locations and the tags are likely to stay up for a long time, becoming "landmarks."

Tagger graffiti is increasing at an alarming rate. It is appearing in even the most affluent neighborhoods and business districts. Taggers are becoming more aggressive and see areas that are monitored by police and private security as challenges. Millions of dollars in property damage caused by graffiti represent a tremendous burden on property owners and business owners. The sad fact is that most of these crimes are unreported and citizens are reluctant to get involved.

Graffiti has an economic effect on the communities that allow it to proliferate. Businesses suffer from a drop in sales because customers are reluctant to come into areas where they are afraid of crime. Property owners find it hard to sell and rent property and potential buyers and renters go elsewhere for what appears to be a safer neighborhood. It is important that more citizens get involved. Take photos of the graffiti in your neighborhood and submit the photos to the police department. Unfortunately, many graffiti cases are unsolved and not prosecuted.

The prosecution and conviction of taggers is a difficult task. For this reason, the police department needs your assistance in reporting graffiti and identifying taggers. You may be asked to act as a witness in a criminal action against a tagger. Although inconvenient, it is necessary for successful prosecution. Because many citizens are afraid of retaliation, it is important that neighbors help each other to clean up their neighborhood and make it a safer living environment.

If you suspect that your children are involved in acts of graffiti, contact the graffiti officer or a patrol officer that is working in your neighborhood. You may be asked to sign a permission to search form, but with your permission we may be able to identify the crew or the nickname of your child within the crew. Perhaps you child is not a tagger after all, but let us identify the problem early in order to stop future problems and/or expenses to the family.