LEAVING HIS MARK POLICE OFFICER 'WIPES OUT' GRAFFITI.Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer GLENDALE - Armed with cans of spray paint he buys himself, police Officer Jerry Uebel is on a mission. Uebel spray-paints over any graffiti he finds while on patrol - then slaps up a Crime Stoppers stoppers see stopper pad. poster offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of suspected taggers. ``My thinking is even if I don't have the paint that matches, it doesn't really matter,'' Uebel said. ``Because it's better to have a splotch of black paint on a gray background than to have some gang (graffiti) or tagging.'' Uebel, who collaborates with the department's gang crimes unit to catch taggers and provide restitution In the context of Criminal Law, state programs under which an offender is required, as a condition of his or her sentence, to repay money or donate services to the victim or society; with respect to maritime law, the restoration of articles lost by jettison, done when the to property owners, previously worked in narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. and hosts a call-in show on the city's cable TV channel. He now patrols an area roughly spanning from Glendale Community College Glendale Community College can refer to one of two colleges in the United States.
In his role, Uebel has become familiar with the area's regular teenage vandals and the one-word nicknames they use. He also has learned that a desire for recognition - rather than malice malice, in law, an intentional violation of the law of crimes or torts that injures another person. Malice need not involve a malignant spirit or the definite intent to do harm. against property owners - is what motivates them. But he is not backing down from his approach of fighting paint with paint in an effort to protect the quality of life in the region that includes Montrose, known for its old town-style shopping district and the surrounding residential neighborhoods nestled amid the Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains are a small mountain range located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, Southern California, The United States of America (USA). The range is commonly known simply as the Verdugos. . John Drayman dray·man n. A driver of a dray. , vice president of the Montrose Shopping Park Association and owner of Custom Photo Studios, went to high school with Uebel and appreciates his approach. ``Jerry knows all the faces that are here in the district, he knows all the faces that are supposed to be here in the district and he immediately recognizes those that are not familiar to us,'' he said. Community policing is not just about making arrests, said Sgt. Tom Lorenz, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department. ``One of the goals is to create an environment within that community where crime does not occur, where you don't have to arrest people, where you don't have to issue tickets,'' Lorenz said. While he buys much of his own spray paint, Uebel has also received donations from the phone company, which often has its public telephones tagged. Recently, Uebel has helped catch several taggers. And he believes other officers could get involved in spraying over graffiti. ``You have to remember, the Police Department is bigger than any gang or any tagging crew in the city,'' Uebel said. Residents and business owners can call the city's Neighborhood Services division about graffiti at (818) 548-3700. Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Glendale police Officer Jerry Uebel pays for his own spray paint to blot out Verb 1. blot out - make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat" obliterate, veil, hide, obscure tagging from graffiti ``artists.'' Michael Owen
|
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion