My assignment was to photograph the wide-spread graffiti in these areas. Many gangs (S-13, 38th St.) sprayed symbols on fences, public property, and even restaurants. Some fences had many layers of paint, which indicated the owners had routinely repainted their walls due to frequent tagging.
Recently, to crack down on graffiti, the City purchased nearly one million dollar's worth of high-tech equipment. Police officers would document instances of graffiti using sophisticated cameras, which transmitted time and location information real-time via GPS. Handwriting analysis would be performed, and a series of computerized algorithms would identify patterns and track down who did the graffiti. Supposedly, police would be more able to arrest the culprits. Our job was to show that it had not been work very effectively.
Mr. Chris Jones, a project manager, offered to drive around town. When I stepped into his sleek, black Mercedes C-class, he quickly turned down the volume of a Jay-Z song. We immediately started talking about music, which he was passionate about, and our conversation gradually spread to more topics. Mr. Jones grew up in Brooklyn, and his connection to the streets was unfettered. He spoke about his arrival to San Diego, the time he spent studying in Arizona, and his friendships of the past. Growing up, many of his friends were killed, either by being either shot or hit by cars. It was slightly overwhelming for me listening to some of his stories, and they made an incredible impression on me.
As we cruised around town, we tried to avoid street-sweepers, which hurled rocks at nearby cars and bystanders. Mr. Jones loved his AC. It was often kept at full-blast, on the coldest settings, even when the car had its windows or doors open. It had a coolly calming effect, I had to admit, despite its inclination on excess.
I asked Mr. Jones whether prosecuting the taggers would do any good in the long-run. He argued yes, because if we could punish a few of the offenders, the system would ensure that any future offenders would be equally punished, and this would act as a deterrent as a whole. My thought, however, was that graffiti was a form of trouble, and that removing graffiti- as one form of civil disobedience-would lead to an increase in another form of civil disobedience.
Pictures of the graffiti can be seen below:
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