Q: Recently I have noticed graffiti in and around our neighborhood. The city seems to paint over the graffiti pretty quickly, but I am wondering if you can describe what efforts your department and the city are taking to combat graffiti in Ventura?

A: The Ventura Police Department and the city of Ventura are committed to eradicating graffiti through a partnership with Public Works, the Ventura Unified School District, Ventura County Probation and District Attorney's Office, community involvement, and education.

Since the correlation between graffiti and gang-related incidents is well-documented, we believe it is vital for the safety of our community that we have an aggressive and coordinated anti-graffiti effort. Thus, our department has assigned Cpl. Al Gomez to investigate and reduce graffiti/vandalism. Gomez is assigned to our department's Special Enforcement Team, which focuses primarily on gang crimes within the city. The primary purpose and scope of the team and graffiti investigator is to establish a program to identify graffiti, the persons responsible for graffiti, and known criminal activity pertaining to tagging crews and criminal street gangs.

Through our partnerships, we are currently working on a process where people who vandalize property will be held not only criminally responsible for the offense, but also civilly liable for damages.

Those arrested for graffiti violations will be assessed restitution to cover the costs of repair, including the time, labor and materials required to cover up and repair the graffiti/vandalism. The local graffiti ordinance is also being updated to reflect current state laws and to hold parents accountable for damage caused by their child.

Additionally, Gomez will request formal probation for all juveniles arrested for this type of crime. Formal probation allows us to exercise search terms on the subject(s) and their property in order to determine if they continue to be involved in illegal activity.

Additionally, through the use of technology, our department has recently taken a significant step forward in our efforts to combat graffiti. Gomez is now using a Web-based GPS software database program called Graffiti Tracker. When a photograph is taken of the graffiti/vandalism, he enters it in the Graffiti Tracker program.

Photographs in the system include those taken by members of our department (Gomez, patrol officers, the enforcement team, Volunteers In Policing members, etc.), Public Works' Graffiti Removal Unit and school district officials.

The photos are documented and recorded in the system, creating a central database. This helps us to identify suspects, collect and analyze information (such as trends and patterns) relating to affected areas, assess the costs associated with the incident(s), and provide additional information in deterring future incidents.

Experience has shown that removing graffiti as soon as it occurs is the best prevention against future graffiti. In addition to the steps we take, everyone can help eliminate and reduce graffiti and vandalism in our city. We encourage people to:

-- Report graffiti immediately by calling the Graffiti Hotline at 654-7805. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The city's Public Works Department strives to remove all graffiti within 48 hours from the time a call is received.

-- You can also report graffiti by sending an e-mail to graffiti@ci.ventura.ca.us.

-- If you see graffiti in progress, report it by calling 911. Don't try to intervene.

-- Contact the property owner whose building has been vandalized and stress the importance of quick cleanup. Form a neighborhood group to help property owners clean up graffiti quickly.

-- Prevent graffiti. Rapid removal tells vandals that people care about their place of business and neighborhood and that their work has little chance of being seen.

-- Plain, smooth surfaces invite graffiti. For walls, choose patterned and rough concrete surfaces or tiled or mosaic surfaces; use chain, lattice or wooden picket fences.

-- Choose paints and coating to deter graffiti. Dark colors make graffiti harder to see. Anti-graffiti coatings are available as well.

-- Plant trees, shrubs or climbing vines to restrict access to tempting walls. Plants with thorns or strong scents are good deterrents.

-- Use proper lighting to deter vandals from popular graffiti sites.

It often takes persistence, but by working together we can help keep our community clean, and the effects of graffiti and vandalism to a minimum.

— Ventura Police Chief Pat Miller welcomes your questions. Send them c/o Ask The Chief, Ventura County Star, P.O. Box 6006, Camarillo, CA 93011, or by e-mail at PoliceChief@ci.ventura.ca.us.