Crime Does Pay!

This is a must read post by Ben Dayhoe over at the Santiago Street Lofts.

By: Ben Dayhoe

If you recall a couple of weeks ago, a tagger decided to take a gamble and spray paint a unit at the Santiago Street Lofts. Well, that gamble he took paid off—me that is.


Mixed in with my usual magazine subscription renewals in yesterday's mail was this nice little "refund check" from the city of Santa Ana's Graffiti Reward Program.

I was shocked to see the reward arrive so soon after the incident. The last check from the previous tagger I caught with the help of an awesome neighbor (yes, catching taggers is now a part-time job for me) took about 9 months to process.

I'm really hoping that this was the last time a kid decides to deface someone's home in our community—but it probably won't be.

I'm tired of hearing the lame-ass excuse that they tagged our homes because they "thought our homes were businesses"—it’s vandalism and it makes no difference to me.

I wish that they would stop trying to explain to me that all they are trying to do is get some "respect", when they are blind to see that defacing someone's property is probably the worst way to achieve that goal.

You want some respect? Don't write on the walls, sidewalks, buildings or trees, and you've got my respect.