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Mesa neighbors meet to fight vandalism, gangs
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Concerned Mesa residents rallied together at a meeting with Mesa authorities to stop vandalism in their community after finding graffiti sprayed around neighborhoods, homes and cars.
Help on hand for Mesa graffiti victims
The Mesa Police Crime Prevention Unit and Gang Enforcement Unit along with Emerson Elementary School officials helped organize a meeting Thursday to provide information about gang prevention and neighborhood safety.
As parents, children and community members trickled into the auditorium at Emerson Elementary School at Westwood and University Drive, Julie Hathcock, 35, said she was shocked by the graffiti that cropped up unexpectedly in her neighborhood recently, and that she wanted to learn ways to fight it.
"There was graffiti on the bumpers of some of the cars, and one vehicle had the whole side covered in graffiti - that's what really shocked me," she said.
Several community residents reported seeing green graffiti with the letters "AST" plastered on public and private property throughout the neighborhood surrounding the school. Most said they worry that gang violence could start to spread in more ways than just vandalism.
But Detective Edward Pollard of the gang unit said that intimidation and violence may not be the motivation behind the rash of graffiti found in recent weeks.
"These are 'taggers,' generally juveniles running all over the city tagging everything they can," Pollard said.
Pollard said "taggers" inconveniently deface property, but they are not motivated by violence or the desire to promote a street gang.
That may not be comforting to angry homeowners forced to paint over graffiti left on their walls, but nonetheless the "taggers" are more interested in leaving their mark than in intimidation and theft, Pollard said.
Some residents at the meeting said they have taken matters into their own hands, by starting neighborhood block watches and reporting suspicious activity.
Police advised all residents at the meeting to call Mesa's gang information line at (480) 644-GANG or Silent Witness at (480) 644-2273 to report suspicious behavior in their communities. Other emergency contacts include Mesa Graffiti Paint Out, (480) 644-3083, and the Mesa Police Officer Assistance Hotline, (480) 644-2211.
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