ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION e most visible and most problematic form of vandalism in the United States is the unlawful application of gra¡ti. e existing research on gra¡ti does not make it easy to determine where gra¡ti got its start in America. If writing on cave walls counts, then the ”rst taggers were prehistoric. More recently, during World War II, the phrase “Kilroy was here” was written on tanks and military equipment throughout Europe and was later seen in the subway systems in New York. In the 1950s, street gangs began using gra¡ti to mark their territory, promote their gangs, and intimidate the community. e word “gra¡ti” comes from the Italian word for scratch, graŸo. Gra¡ti is any unauthorized inscription, word, ”gure, mark, or design that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on real or personal property, with the intent of having it be seen by the passing public. e negative impact of gra¡ti on a community is signi”cant, as it can instill feelings of fear and insecurity, it causes signi”cant problems for local jurisdictions that have to keep the community clean, residents and businesses o’en ³ee the area, and property values plummet. e presence of gra¡ti vandalism is an a—ront to all who live, work, and visit a community. Such unauthorized inscriptions and gra¡ti are a major problem around the world, not just in the United States. Gra¡ti is o’en referred to as the “newspaper of the streets” in the gang and tagger subculture. If that is true, we as law enforcement o¡cers need to make sure we get the subscription so we can tell what is going on around us. We need to understand all of the basic elements of gra¡ti-why it is used and what it means. Gangs use gra¡ti to gain recognition or express the identity of the gang, and gang members are motivated to put up gra¡ti to re³ect their loyalty to their gang. In some cases, members may be ordered by their gang to put up gra¡ti to demonstrate their worthiness to join and to prove that they are committed to the gang. A gang’s desire to mark their territory and let others know who they are can be exploited by investigators.
