The Escondido police have developed a new, highly-effective method of tracking graffiti artists. Now whenever the police receive a call regarding a tagging incident, they take pictures of the vandalism with a camera equipped with GPS. This allows the department to use a graffiti specialist to identify other graffiti pieces done by the same person and help narrow down his or her home area and track the vandalism.
“When we catch that individual, we can charge him not only with that graffiti crime, but all the other ones as well,” Escondido police lieutenant Bob Benton said. “By looking at the locations we can essentially see where the suspect may live because what we’re finding is a lot of times suspects tag right around their homes. So, what we can do is they happen in a certain neighborhood and then we can start tracking to see who’s tagging in that neighborhood and try to track the individual that way”
Just Monday, a 19 year old graffiti artist was arraigned on six felony and 146 misdemeanor vandalism charges. His San Diego criminal lawyer has issued a plea of not guilty and they will return to court next month to begin the trial.
Police believe the graffiti tracker will not only help them prevent graffiti and catch those who commit the crime, but also help property owners receive restitution funds for the damage done to their homes and businesses.
To read more about the new graffiti tracking system, see the article on 10 News. Image Via scragz [Flickr].