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Final Vote May Allow L.A. County To Fine Taggers

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Aug 12, 2008 12:15 pm US/Pacific

Final Vote May Allow L.A. County To Fine Taggers

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― An ordinance tentatively approved today would enable the county to fine taggers for the damage they cause.

The Board of Supervisors will take a final vote on the ordinance next week.
 
If approved, it would take effect in 30 days, county spokesman Brian Lew
said.

Supervisor Gloria Molina came up with the idea after a Pico Rivera
grandmother was gunned down Aug. 10, 2007, when she tried to stop a graffiti vandal from defacing a wall near her home.

The average taxpayer cost to catch a tagger is $665, and the average
cost of removing or painting over graffiti is $552 per incident, according to
Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka.

In response to the Pico Rivera killing, the county created a six-month
pilot program known as the Vandalism Enforcement Team, which targeted taggers in Pico Rivera and the unincorporated area near Whittier.

Between Jan. 6 and June 30, the team arrested 168 taggers who had caused an estimated $345,000 in damage, according to sheriff's Capt. Michael Rothans.

Violent crime in those areas also dropped, he said, and none of the
suspects initially arrested were caught reoffending.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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