KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic Salsita Antojitos Mexicanas restaurant owner Patricio Rodriguez stands in front of his graffiti covered building on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Sout Fair Avenue in Yakima Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Links   E-mail             Print              Comments Advertisement

No kid looks forward to the concrete beds and tiny rooms of the Yakima County juvenile detention center. But is it enough to make them drop their spray paint cans?

For restaurant owner Patricio Rodriguez and other victims of graffiti, the jury is still out.

Juvenile justice authorities have been using the so-called "graffiti pod" at the Jerome Avenue detention center for about a year now.

Previously, youth caught tagging were typically sent home with their parents.

But in an effort that began last August to curb graffiti and gang-related vandalism, the county began paying for 14 extra beds -- the number in a typical pod -- to be used specifically for juveniles caught tagging. Offenders are given the choice of painting over graffiti or staying for up to 30 days.

So far, 107 kids have spent time in the center's pod for graffiti. On average, they stay three to 10 days. About 64 percent are from Yakima, but the center sees taggers from Toppenish, Sunnyside and other Yakima County areas.

The 14 beds, which are among 70 at the juvenile facility, cost the county about $330,000. Meanwhile, a federal grant is paying for a new case manager to lead the new program that has offenders paint over graffiti.

Probation officers believe the new rules deter some first-time offenders.

"It does scare some of these kids," said Dan Behler, a county probation officer who specializes in low-risk kids diverted from the court system.

Behler believes police are making headway on graffiti, perhaps partly because of the booking program. He sees about 10 graffiti cases a year through the diversion program, more than in the past. In addition to serving time, most graffiti offenders spend about 16 hours in community service, plus pay restitution and attend classes.

But a few nights at the center mean little to hardened gang members committing more serious crimes in addition to tagging.

"I know that my kids, it wouldn't even touch them," said Meschell Bradley, a probation officer who works with Toppenish gang members.

Catching kids is the problem. A lot of vandalism goes unreported and by the time police arrive, the spray-can-wielding culprits are long gone.

Charles and Pam Jette of Yakima call graffiti a plague in their neighborhood near the corner of North Sixth and G streets. Taggers have hit their fence nine times in the past two years, sometimes only two or three days after they paint over it.

Pam Jette picketed in front of City Hall on Tuesday morning, asking for more police patrol, brighter streetlights and cameras. She also criticizes the city for spending money to revitalize the Yakima Avenue corridor of downtown while other neighborhoods suffer.

Charles Jette suggests more community service hours for first-time offenders because he believes a few nights in juvenile hall will only make them smarter the next time.

"All they do is learn how to be more devious," he said.

At the corner of Pacific and Fair avenues, the walls of Patricio Rodriguez's restaurant, Salsita Antojitos Mexicanos, are covered in graffiti. This in spite of a mural he commissioned to thwart it. Taggers have even climbed on his roof to scrawl their cryptic messages.

Graffiti has led to other crime, Rodriguez said through an interpreter. His car was stolen last week, though police recovered it. He is considering installing his own surveillance camera.

Outside Yakima, cities are wrestling with their own graffiti issues. Toppenish community leaders are considering raising money to hire a private business to remove a record amount of graffiti, while Wapato City Councilman Tony Guzman says there are nine cases of people arrested for tagging awaiting prosecution.

Mark Kirschenmann,
supervisor of the county's
juvenile detention operation, considers the "graffiti pod" only one piece of the puzzle.

To truly measure its impact, county officials would have to study reoffense rates, which they may do soon, he said.

Until then, he hopes the word gets out to kids on the outside that "if you get caught doing it, you're going to jail," he said.

* Ross Courtney can be reached at 930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.