Cactus Village Community

OPERATION GRAFFITI REMOVAL - A Neighborhood in Phoenix

Jul 08, 2003

It comes and goes. It may not even bother you anymore. But the ugly truth is that graffiti marks gang territory and sends messages to other gangs, creating conflict. I?’ve heard the analysis that graffiti tags are like how dogs mark their territory?…..quantity, quality and frequency matters. For neighbors, graffiti lowers property values, ruins the beauty of our neighborhood, and sends a message that we don?’t care to would be criminals.

Unfortunately, the war on graffiti is too great for the city to handle alone. If you see graffiti, or if your property has been tagged, please do your part to help. The more quickly we remove graffiti from within our neighborhood, the stronger the message we send that this will not be tolerated.

Recently a neighbor on my block was lamenting the graffiti on his property. ?“It?’s like a daily routine?”, he said. ?“I check my walls everyday before I go to work?”. I realized how discouraging it must be for him, especially when other neighbor?’s (and often businesses) will have graffiti for sometimes several weeks before it is removed. It reminds me of the conversations I have with my 5 year old about why she has to help pick up toys she didn?’t play with. I get the ?“it?’s not fair?” attitude, and she often blames her brothers for the mess. But they all have to pitch in and clean the toys. If you?’re a parent, you might recognize the message: even if YOU didn?’t do it, YOU still need to help out if you want to see things change. And I?’m talking about graffiti.
This thoughtful neighbor realized that by taking just a little extra time, he could help remove graffiti on some of the other fences on our street. Since his brush was already wet, it wouldn?’t be that big of a deal ?– he just needed help with the paint. So I called graffiti busters, talked to Roxanne, and a few hours later, Roxanne delivered three gallons of paint, along with brushes and supplies. Talk about quick service! And the best part ?– it was absolutely FREE!

And so begins ?‘Operation Graffiti Removal?’ on my street. By working together as neighbors, we can make our neighborhood graffiti-free. If you see graffiti, report it to 602-495-7014?…☺