Tagging started in New York City a decade ago, where graffiti had already reached epidemic proportions in the subways operated by the New York Transit Authority. ![]() “They have a lot of creative energy and want attention. While some taggers may belong to gangs, most of them “are kids who need something to do,” Barberic said. Sometimes they encounter armed gang members who use spray cans to mark off their territory and who fight deadly wars over turf. The officers have automatic pistols and handcuffs hidden under their scruffy clothing. There is a serious side to the Ghost Bus duty. In the cat-and-mouse game played out every day, these kids had faked a graffiti hit and got the last laugh, several of the officers agreed later. The youngsters were questioned and released. But when the officers inspected the bus for damage, they found no new marks. Three of the teen-agers froze the fourth ran but was quickly caught and handcuffed by officers in the backup car. When she yelled “Go!” they were out the doors. Inside the bus, the officers waited for Barberic’s command. As the bus stopped, four teen-agers walked behind the vehicle, out of sight. Then, pulling up to the curb by the Annandale School on Poppy Peak Drive and North Figueroa Street, near the Los Angeles-Pasadena boundary, they got some action.Ĭhildren were playing basketball in the schoolyard and several older kids were hanging around the bus stop. One recent afternoon, Barberic and six other team members climbed into bus 8566-a beat-up old vehicle with graffiti scratched on the plastic windows-and began trolling reported hot spots. Other times they stake out a bus stop or patrol the routes, but the problem is so big that no tactic works for very long. Sometimes undercover officers ride the regular buses, followed by a backup car. Using the Ghost Bus is just one of the unit’s tactics. There is little to deter the taggers because vandalism, a misdemeanor, carries light fines that range from $40 up to $250 for repeat offenders, Barberic said. But officers did arrest 152 people for more serious misdemeanors and 20 for felonies. The juveniles usually were cited for vandalism and released. In the 12 months it has been operating, the anti-graffiti unit has cited or arrested 808 people, most of them juveniles, reports show. Trying to fight back with just 15 officers assigned to anti-graffiti duty, she said, is “like spitting into the wind.”
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