Board approves law that holds parents accountable for kids' graffiti - Los Angeles Times

Board approves law that holds parents accountable for kids' graffiti

About time!!


Board approves law that holds parents accountable for kids' graffiti

The L.A. County supervisors' measure will allow authorities to hold taggers and their parents liable for civil damages.

By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 11:10 AM PDT, August 19, 2008

Seeking to hit graffiti vandals and their parents in the pocketbook, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved a measure that would allow authorities to hold taggers -- and their parents -- liable for civil damages.It goes into effect in 30 days.

The new county law is part of a broader strategy against blight that aims to step up enforcement by conducting more specialized prosecutions, as well having the violators pay fines up to $1,000 and having liens issued against their property. When warranted, the measure also would allow authorities to seek felony vandalism charges in court.

The thinking behind the approach, said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who introduced the ordinance, is to shake up parents and guardians who are in denial about their children's actions, unaware of them or simply don't care. It is another tool to hold the adults accountable, she said.

Los Angeles County spent nearly $30 million last year to clean up graffiti, records show.

But Molina, who said that the actual property damage to businesses and public buildings and infrastructure is far higher, said tagging also had led to violence, including murder.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Robert Whitehead of Valinda was shot to death in 2006 after challenging young gang members he caught crossing out another gang's graffiti on a neighbor's garage. Last year, Pico Rivera grandmother Maria Hicks was gunned down after she honked her car horn, flashed her car lights and followed a tagger who had defaced a wall.

The killings led Molina to push for a six-month pilot program in Pico Rivera and unincorporated areas south and west of Whittier.L.A. County Sheriff's Capt. Michael J. Rothans said that during that period, there were 168 arrests -- 133 minors among them -- for tagging that resulted in $345,000 in damage. In Pico Rivera, one suspected graffiti vandal who was arrested last March was believed to be responsible for tags on 100 locations.

Rothans said 41% of the families with suspects under the age of 18 have sought help by agreeing to attend a parenting or intervention program. None of those minors have been rearrested, he said.