**Disclaimer: Original link no longer exists because of Daily Trojan site redesign.
Taggers target five local organizations
Officials say tagging, skateboarders are a problem for the centers.
By: Karen Marcus
Posted: 9/6/07
When Levi Kingston brought the Hoover Intergenerational Care center to Hoover Street and University Avenue 17 years ago, his goal was to create a safe space.
But because of recent acts of vandalism and trespassing, Kingston, the chairman of the center, said he no longer thinks the Hoover center – which provides daily care for young children of working families – is safe.
“It’s like murdering a child,” he said. “We’ve been like targets.”
The Hoover center and four other organizations that border University Avenue – Our Savior Catholic Center, Hebrew Union College, USC Hillel and the 32nd Street School – have all encountered vandalism in the past year.
The most recent act of vandalism committed at the Hoover center occurred less than two months ago, when a suspect tagged a wet concrete bike path inside the center’s complex, Kingston said.
The Department of Public Safety reported other recent tagging incidents in the area, including “slap tagging,” when taggers graffiti their names onto buildings.
Officials at the Hoover center have inferred that the graffiti and vandalism are probably caused by skateboarders and tagging crews, who hang out in the University Avenue area. The area is a hotspot for skateboarders and skateboarding culture.
Though officials could not confirm that the skateboarders are behind the tagging, DPS Capt. David Carlisle said, “sometimes along with the skateboarding come other nuisances.”
Officials from the University Avenue organizations said both skateboarders and taggers also a cause for concern over the safety of children who use the organizations’ services.
Kingston said suspects on two different occasions climbed onto the roof of the Hoover center to tag it while children were present.
“There have been incidents before, but never with the kids in the program here,” Kingston said.
Father Lawrence Seyer of the Our Savior Catholic Center said on several occasions he has encountered parents who were afraid to allow their children to come to the University Avenue area and to cross Jefferson Boulevard.
Constantine Arthur, a program coordinator and teacher at the Hoover center, said she was hit by a skateboarder while she was walking children to the center from the 32nd Street School for a special program. She said while the program continues, she regularly shielded children from skateboarders who ride too closely to where the children walk.
“They really don’t respect the fact that young children are out there,” Arthur said. “They do whatever they want to do.”
The conflict between the University Avenue area and skateboarders dates back five years when USC Hillel brought together the University Avenue organizations to address the tagging and vandalism problems.
The organizations continue to meet and now have backing from USC. The university has agreed to paint over any graffiti on USC-affiliated buildings and to consider financing modifications to the area that would deter skateboarders and tagging crews from vandalizing it.
The university has given money to the Hoover center in the past for repairs, but since it is not a university-affiliated organization, USC has not financed all of its graffiti removal and vandalism-related repairs.
This had made it difficult for the Hoover center to fund all of its repairs, Kingston said, especially because its financing comes from the State Department of Education and the City of Los Angeles, which has cut budgets across the city.
A May report from the Hoover Jefferson Neighborhood Stakeholder group, made up of representatives from organizations in the area including USC, proposed measures to hinder skateboarding and tagging activity.
The report proposed removing the cement blocks and benches that have previously been defaced and line University Avenue. It also suggests erecting fences and security cameras.
Seyer said USC promised to “do something” about the problem after Senior Vice President Todd Dickey toured the vandalized properties.
Removing the permanent magic markers and spray paint used on the buildings has been difficult and costly, Seyer said.
But the University Avenue officials said the proposals to curb tagging and deter skateboarders from using the area are short-term fixes.
Eighth District Councilman Bernard Parks, whose district includes the area around USC, has proposed a skate park within his district.
“What we need is a park for these guys,” Kingston agreed. “I’m not out here beating the drums against skateboarders, no way.”
© Copyright 2007 Daily Trojan
Leave a Comment
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
