From the C.W. Nevius section of the April 28th edition of the SF Chronicle:
City officials held an "Anti-Graffiti Super Huddle" last week. Some 200 members of the public turned out. The good news:
-- Supervisor Bevan Dufty pledged to go to Superior Court Presiding Judge James McBride to request a "graffiti judge" who would handle all cases.
-- Police have a new software program that can track and organize graffiti reports, so police can trace a tagger and compile a list of times he's hit different locations.
-- A new sensor can detect the hiss of a spray can and send a silent alarm to the police.
The bad news:
-- The judges have been asked before. None of them wants to be the graffiti judge.
-- The computer tracking system can't be used in court because there's no way to prove the same person created all the graffiti.
-- The city doesn't have the new sensor yet.
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So Nevius is right-on about the fact of no judge in SF County, if not the entire Northern California area, wanting to be branded an "official graffiti judge". The label, in judicial circles I'm sure, bears resemblance to that of the traffic and small claims variety. Basically not that respectable. So that's one win for graf writers everywhere. The second tidbit, about the program 'frisco cops have set-up; might not hold any sort of weight in the courtroom, but it sure as hell will be effective in tracking the Krylon footprints of paint menaces all over. The police already have a history of logging this sort of thing since the eighties, and it's only gotten more efficient over time. It's only a matter of years, if not months, before police are so sharp in their spray-gum shoe abilities that they will know where and when a bomber's gonna hit before even he does; then just collect evidence over time, lay the bait for a final trap, and lock 'em up ala the formula for catching major drug dealers. Graffiti, Wire-style. But what writers everywhere should really be in panic-mode about is the new sensor technology aka "The Mk3 E-Nose". Definitely Orwellian in scope, the e-nose will big-brother your taggin' ass out of existence if sucka-free politicians can afford to implement it. From the company's website, http://www.e-nose.info/:
"The Mk3 E-Nose has been proved to be an effective graffiti paint detector. In a recent field study with a large rail corporation, the E-Nose distinguished between spray paint and solvent and could detect paint being used at a distance of 45 metres. E-Noses deployed in rail garages will be a new and important deterrent and cost saving measure...Our devices consist of arrays of robust and fast acting chemical sensors, supplemented by novel patented electronics and software. Chemicals in the air are detected by the sensor arrays, registering complex odour “images” in real time. A permanent record is sent to your computer via line or wireless connection, where it is identified, quantified and alarms for abnormal events."
Essentially, this shit's no joke. Like, Rakim-status no joke. Field tests have proven the device to be 100% potent on would-be vandals of all varieties. But there's hope in the key phrase of "...at a distance of 45 metres." The city's coffers are gonna have to hack up a few milli easily to put these little shits all over the city, if not just a portion; because everyone and their Mrs. Jackson knows that graffiti writers will spray anywhere, anytime, any place. Once the city puts up an Mk3 somewhere, word will spread of it's location and they'll just move to somewhere else. As creative as the anti-vandalisim department heads are, me and my fellow taggers will be just as full of wit. I can't help but compare it to the never-ending war on drugs. The more gouda the government grates, the more the smugglers/dealers/kingpins work to continue dumping dope into the states. So do we really need more wasted taxpayer funds? Why can't the city decide on an effective solution for this war on paint? More free art-space and galleries, less emphasis on destroying all graffiti and just focus on bullshit throwies by toys instead? At least the real art will beautify the city some-what. In one of the latest editions of the East Bay Express, where the cover-story was on newstand graffiti; readers from all over responded with the general consensus that large graffiti pieces by talented artists good, gangbanging ig'nant juvenile tags of the "Kato was here" variety bad. Whatever the real solution might be, graf-writers and representers baywide should know that staying up on the facts is just as important as throwin' up, in my opinion anyway.
- Eso
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