Is nighttime surveillance the answer to graffiti?

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, December 4, 2002

Not a week seems to go by without graffiti vandalism at Bainbridge High School, outside or in.

A chagrined school Superintendent Ken Crawford cites what he perceives as a “cultural acceptance” of graffiti by islanders, manifest most prominently in “Paint Night” at school year’s end.

“There seems to be this acceptance that ‘tagging’ roads and signs is okay,” Crawford said. “If roads and signs, why not a school?”

The problem reached a pinnacle of sorts last month, when buildings on the high school campus were extensively vandalized with black spray paint.

The oil-based paint proved difficult to remove from the brick facades. A four- or five-person crew spent two weeks cleaning up the damage, power-washing surfaces where that was sufficient, power-sanding where it wasn’t. Some of the brick walls were shaved down by a quarter of an inch.

“Obviously, you can’t put a new brick front on the building,” Crawford said. “It’s forever damaged.”

By his estimate, labor cost to clean up the mess ran into the tens of thousands of dollars.

And the problem is not limited to graffiti – Crawford also cited ongoing damage to the Blakely Elementary School grounds, where someone has been spinning their vehicle tires in the front lawn.

Saying vandalism in Bainbridge schools is the worst he’s encountered in his 30-year career, Crawford wants to see the district buy a portable camera system to set up for nighttime surveillance in outdoor areas of chronic damage.

Other strategies might include adjusting custodial shifts, so someone is on campus at odd hours, or eliminating outdoor lighting to keep kids from congregating.

A formal proposal will likely go to the school board next month; reaction from board members has ranged from non-committal to supportive.

Cheryl Dale, recently elected to a second year as board president, agreed that vandalism is a problem at schools and across the community. But she raised privacy concerns – who would have access to security tapes, for example, and would they be reviewed to see who was on school grounds even when acts of vandalism have not occurred?

School board member Ken Breiland, though, supports the idea, saying, “our community wants us to protect the investment they have made in our school buildings.”

“Ken (Crawford) made it clear that the use of the cameras is only during those off-school times and would not in any way be used to monitor students,” Breiland said. “It’s far less invasive than what we might find in a store at the Silverdale Mall.”

After the November vandalism, the school district offered a reward for information. The name of a possible suspect was given to police, but no arrests were made.

Bainbridge Police Detective Scott Anderson said graffiti is a difficult crime to prosecute unless the perpetrator is caught in the act.

“Even where someone comes and tells us who did it, how do you prove that beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law?” he said.

Police acknowledge frustration of their own in dealing with the crime. Department statistics show 93 incidents of graffiti vandalism have been reported this year.

An outdoor camera system on school campuses, Anderson said, would make it easier to identify and prosecute offenders.

But all sides put some of the onus on the community at large.

“What surprises me is that parents oftentimes are fully aware that their kids are involved in this, and do nothing,” Anderson said. “One parent told me (graffiti) was a ‘creative outlet’ for their son who was troubled.”

Said Crawford: “As parents, don’t you have to wonder what your kids are doing out at 2 in the morning?”