Property owners struck by graffiti vandals are looking for more help from the city

Some people call Worcester a city that's always changing. That may be so, but they usually aren't referring to the bold tags that frequently show up blazing on the side of your neighborhood restaurant or medical building.

With 482 reports in this past year of malicious acts of property destruction from Jan. 1 to March 31, incidents in the city are growing, and officials are reorganizing its graffiti task force. Not fast enough, though, for storeowners who are impatient with the results they're getting and frustrated at the process.

It was late February when the Hurowitz Medical building, sitting on the corner of Highland and West streets, was tagged — an outline in pink and white. Their tag has also appeared on Green Street. Landlord Nick Gianakis is hardly amused. "Luckily, he said, "it won't be on there long enough to affect my business."

The graffiti on the Hurowitz Medical building on the corner of Highland and West streets.

Matthew Labovites, assistant commissioner for operations of the Worcester Department of Public Works, says "It's not a written policy, but the policy is: We will assist private property owners. Typically it's businesses, not so much residential — that's a pretty rare occurrence. With our graffiti abatement program we will go in and work with a business owner if they are willing. That's standard practice. There are some businesses that are not willing to have us help them."

Part of the reason for the change in public policy is the sheer number of tagging incidents, and the resulting backlog. In the past, only one day a week was dedicated to eliminating graffiti. The increase has now caused the Public Works Department to go out twice a week. District 5 City Councilor Frederick Rushton says, "Where it was usually done on a complaint basis, now we're going and looking for it." He also adds: "The city never pays for graffiti removal on private property."

The graffiti public task force has not been disbanded, but it is being revamped. It is now completely run out of the Public Works Department and led by Public Works personnel. "The way the city's policy goes is we react quickly and swiftly to any reported graffiti," says Moylan. "We charge workers from the Department of Public Works to be vigilant. We will work in cooperation with the Police Department when they need to get involved to see whether one person or a group did it."

Part of this revamping of the system is to continue working closely with the Worcester Police Department's Gang Unit. The WPD will determine whether or not an instance is gang graffiti or just tagging. Gang graffiti will have a gang name or symbol. This follows a list of names or nicknames called a "road-call." Officer James Carmody, who has been dealing with graffiti in the city for the past eight years, says "most of the graffiti seen in Worcester is done by individuals or tagging crews."

Also attributed to the upswing in graffiti is its move from the stereotypical inner-city location to more residential areas. "In this day and age of MTV and movies, it's not just the low-income areas now that get it, but the middle-class and upper-middle-class areas," says Carmody. "There is no rhyme or reason to where the graffiti is." o