Two Taggers, Too Many
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The 4th Street Bridge, which crosses the Los Angeles River. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich describes his plan to catch grafitti vandals as an "end-of-days scenario" for taggers.
The American Civil Liberities Union calls it "unquestionably unconstitutional."
As for police, at least one officer says hardened criminals aren't the only ones who might get caught in the net.
Under Trutanich's plan, taggers could be arrested simply for hanging out together.
Trutanich told the Los Angeles Times his staff has begun amassing street-level intelligence and reviewing legal strategies in preparation for a series of injunctions targeting graffiti and tagging crews. The measures would be lawsuits of sorts, treating graffiti as a criminal enterprise and arguing it has become such a nuisance that it requires an extraordinary police response, The Times reported.
Los Angeles is the national leader in the use of civil injunctions to combat gangs -- the model for Trutanich's proposal. The city has 43 injunctions targeting 71 gangs.
The tagging injunctions would focus on neighborhoods where graffiti is a particularly acute problem, such as the Harbor Gateway area, the San Fernando Valley and, especially, South L.A., according to The Times.
"I'm going to put together an end-of-days scenario for these guys" Trutanich told The Times. "If you want to tag, be prepared to go to jail. And I don't have to catch you tagging. I can just catch you (hanging) with your homeboys."
An American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California staff attorney told The Times that Trutanich's proposal is "unquestionably unconstitutional," and some law enforcement officials expressed ambivalence.
In South Los Angeles, Police Capt. Mark Olvera told The Times that for police, the injunctions could blur the line between hardened criminals who use graffiti to mark territory and youth who try to enhance their street credibility through graffiti.
