Taggers vandalized at least eight businesses with black spray paint late Monday night around the 900 block of South Park Street.
Madison Police Department Public Information Officer Mike Hanson said there is a difference between gang graffiti and tagging.
“Taggers are the people that want some other type of attention,” Hanson said. “We have seen both forms here in Madison and we are not concerned at this point.”
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who served on a city committee to fight against graffiti, said although all graffiti may not be gang related, it is expensive to remove and should not be ignored.
“I’ve talked to people through the years that incorrectly assume all graffiti is criminal — gangs marking their territory — and people become frightened,” Verveer said. “Luckily, most of the graffiti in Madison is not criminal-gang related.”
According to the release, the MPD has been monitoring graffiti cases for several years and noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti during January, which has since declined.
The city’s graffiti committee stopped meeting about two years ago because graffiti in the city had noticeably declined, Verveer added.
“Unfortunately, in the last several months, the graffiti problem has come back with a vengeance, particularly on the near East Side,” Verveer said. “Maybe it’s about time to rethink our decision to not have a committee anymore.”
The committee consists of representatives from every city department affected by graffiti, including the police department, the streets division and the building inspection unit.
The police department made three graffiti-related arrests last year, according to Hanson, although the number can be misleading.
“When we investigate and arrest, or catch them in the act, we can charge them with criminal damage to property, a state charge, or there is a city of Madison ordinance for graffiti,” Hanson said.
Criminal damage to property arrests can include anything from vandalizing a building to breaking a car window, Hanson added. The fine for first-offense graffiti arrests is $288 and the second offense is $412.
