The BOSTON Tagger—Teen Suspect Arrested in La Mesa Vandalism

What a terrific headline yesterday. My main curiosity was did they catch “BOSTON” or “POBR?” I read on LaMesaNeighborhoodWatch.com it was BOSTON, whose tags I’ve seen all over La Mesa and Lemon Grove, turns out the suspect lives in La Mesa on the border of Lemon Grove. Exemplary job, LMPD & Graffiti Tracker!

This year, I’ve noticed significant advances in the way La Mesa deals with graffiti. Last year tags remained on businesses, walls, signs, windows, utility boxes & bus benches for weeks or even months, harming our image & property values and possibly elevating crime. It’s encouraging seeing tags now being painted over in a matter of days.

While I applaud the city’s heightened attention to our graffiti problem, the paint-overs, like bad toupees, don’t necessarily cover up the problem but frequently bring attention to it. It is obvious graffiti is under the paint cover-ups. When one sees miles of these paint patches, there is still that uneasy feeling of “I’m not in a good area.”

Dennis Twiss, La Mesa resident and owner of Graffiti Patrol, provides professional graffiti removal service in San Diego and Imperial Counties. His work is essentially seamless; he doesn’t just cover up the graffiti, he makes it disappear. (see attached before & after photos from his Facebook page.)

Perhaps in La Mesa’s continued fight against graffiti, the city will take it to the next level: elimination not disguising. If we succeed, our image will improve, property values will increase, more businesses will open their doors here and crime could very well decrease like it did in New York City in the '90s.