NEWMAN – City leaders are hoping to raise public awareness of gangs and graffiti, and are enlisting the support of the community in a campaign to stamp out graffiti as quickly as it appears.

The city will host a town hall meeting Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in the West Side Theater to present gang awareness information with an emphasis on gang graffiti to kick off its graffiti abatement program.

“The main focus of the night will be the graffiti,” Police Chief Adam McGill said. And while gang ties to graffiti are a concern, he noted, “not all graffiti is gang graffiti. We need to remember that and talk about that as well.”

Ultimately, McGill said, the city’s goal is to keep Newman as attractive as possible by removing graffiti as quickly as it appears.

Private property owners are responsible for promptly removing any graffiti which appears on walls or fences, which is where the city’s planned abatement program comes into play.

The city hopes to compile a list of volunteers willing to respond to private property where graffiti is present and, with the permission of the property owner, paint it over.

“Maybe the property owner doesn’t have the time or the money to immediately cover the graffiti. This would buy them some time and bring them into compliance with the city code that graffiti be covered,” McGill pointed out.

Keeping graffiti in check is an important component of a community’s anti-gang efforts, McGill said, because the graffiti is often a form of communications in which rival gangs claim territory or issue challenges.

Covering over graffiti as soon as it appears improves the appearance of the community while interrupting that form of communication.

“If you leave the graffiti up, somebody responds to it and before you know it, the graffiti is the length of the wall,” McGill remarked. “Sometimes they get tired of talking through paint, and the graffiti can lead to violence.”

Prompt removal of graffiti also helps eliminate what McGill refers to as the “broken window” affect.

A broken window left unrepaired is an invitation to more vandalism which in turn snowballs into larger problems.

“Little things left unchecked lead to bigger things. It just continues to escalate,” the chief commented. “If we just leave that graffiti up there, it sends a message that it is not important to us.”

Paint and single-use paint brushes will be provided for the graffiti abatement program.

The city is responsible for covering or removing graffiti on public property such as sound walls or park buildings, said Public Works Superintendent Doug Mutoza.

City workers often start their work week by removing graffiti which has appeared over the weekend, he said, often at the cost of several hours of labor and expensive materials.

“If we don’t get it removed, we get additional taggers,” Mutoza commented. “We have to get it done right away, so we’re sometimes having to put off scheduled jobs until another day. It gets really frustrating We’re seeing more of it. It’s almost every weekend, somewhere in town. You have the hot spots. You pretty much know where to check first thing in the morning.”

Graffiti has become such a problem that Crimestoppers has established a separate reward fund earmarked specifically for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti artists, McGill said.

Community members may submit information anonymously by calling 521-4636.

All interested community members are encouraged to attend Wednesday’s town hall meeting.