Above: Community entities pose with donated vehicle dedicated to combating graffiti in Gila River. The truck has been patroling areas with volunteers and using equipment and material that was also freely offered to stamp out the vandalism of spray painting rogues.
SACATON- A vehicle dedicated to buffing graffiti is hitting the Community. Vandals seem to have the upper-hand in their assault on buildings and property but the flagship vehicle of the Graffiti Busters Program is making the rounds to contend with the reckless spray painters.
Houses, monuments, religious institutions and tribal facilities have all been marked by graffiti that is either gang related or the work of graffiti crews. The gangs will use graffiti to indicate their activity in a particular community. To the individual layman, the gang related spray painting may seem esoteric but to the gangster it sends clear messages to rival gangs and police about their presence. The spray painting could specify gang territory, but can also be related to drug sales and perpetual rivalries with enemy gangs.
One former member of a graffiti crew anonymously reported, “it’s all about the fame.” The more places that their cognomen is seen the more respect that crew member will receive from his group and in other spray painting circles. Invariably this conduct will cause the graffito to run afoul of other crews and police.
Discussions to begin the program began last year when Department of Community Housing staff, members of the Gila River Police Department and D6 Council Representatives met with a singular intention, “how to combat the graffiti that’s very destructive,” said Anthony Villareal, D6 Council Representative.
The removal of graffiti is extremely expensive. The costs of paint, generators, compressors, hoses, nozzles, gas for the vehicle and the sheer man hours, hike up the cost of a typical graffiti clean up. The difficulty of funding a program that required these necessities rendered a more resourceful approach in the early stages of the Graffiti Busters Program. “There are a lot of resources in the Community,” Villareal said.
Those resources translated into services, materials and manpower donated to kick start the program. The first entity to donate was Gila River Sand & Gravel with an industrial sized spray rig used to paint over the vandalism in broad strokes.
The refurbished Chevrolet truck was brought back to life after repairs and a graphic that wraps around the entire body.
Wild Horse Pass Development Authority donated paint for the chassis and also a trailer and hitch. Gila River Casinos utilized their vendors to donate a graphic that wraps around the truck. The design of the graphic reflects the “zero-tolerance” approach the program has toward the criminal damage of gangs and graffiti crews.
The Graffiti Busters make bi-monthly visits throughout the Community to paint over the untidiness left behind by gangs and graffiti crews. The program also takes calls from those reporting on damage to the Community. If you are wish to report graffiti or are interested in donating or volunteering contact the Gila River Indian Community Police Department at (520)562-7106.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|