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June 24th, 2009

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Police Chief: Crime down in Novato

Taggers talk to NOVATO police

Graffiti artists travel for miles to Hamilton

Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 2:12 PM PDT

Novato Police Officer Andy Rounds was on foot patrol at about 5 p.m. Sunday when he came upon nine graffiti artists painting on a retaining wall in the 20 block of Hamilton Drive.

Officer Rounds and Sgt. Mike Howard cited the taggers — but more importantly got information that should help solve other cases of tagging, said Police Capt. Joe Kreins.

“These guys talked to us about what their tags are, what their numbers are,” Kreins said.

Police didn’t release taggers’ names, but did release their ages, which range from 21 to 29 years old.

They came from afar to do their tagging, including from West Sacramento and Sacramento, Folsom and Shingle Springs, Calif., which is in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

“The type of tagging they were doing is more of the mural type of tagging,” Kreins said.

“We may end up solving a lot of cases as a result of this crew that was out there,” he said. “I think we got a lot of good information out of it.”

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Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of NovatoAdvance.com.

Keith wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:05 AM:

" What kind of journalism is this??? How about some details. If these guys are coming from Sacramento to paint graffiti are they gang members or artists exploiting a new canvas? What sort of info was learned? What were they tagging when the police arrived? Come on--we get more information on high school football games! "

Shandra wrote on Jul 29, 2008 2:54 PM:

" I agree with Keith. What was the purpose of this article. We, as readers, gained nothing from it. If they are traveling this far, there must be a reason for it- but the writer failed to get into that. This is by far one of the worst stories I have read, and the reason I don't subscribe to the paper but read it online. After this, I may stop reading it online as well. It was a waste of time. "

A person who understands wrote on Jul 29, 2008 10:22 PM:

" To the two people above

IF BOTH OF YOU WERNT SO EMPTY MINDED, you would understand that by catching this group of people might lead into catching other taggers from around the county....

And Shandra,
HONESTLY
a reason for it?
TO SPREAD THEIR TAG "

Keith wrote on Jul 30, 2008 11:22 AM:

" Well, "a person who"...if you're going to resort to name calling, how about I just call you IGNORANT? Not all taggers are gang bangers leaving pathetic scribbles. Some of the people labeled as taggers are actually graffiti artists, their crime being that they're painting on a wall without permission--yes, a crime, but they're leaving something that's actually artistic and not gang related...more about building an underground reputation as an artist. Hence my questioning the lack of details in this "article." We don't know what the real story is! "

Mary wrote on Aug 2, 2008 6:39 AM:

" Graffiti is a blight and a crime. I would like to know why they come to my town with their lawlessness. This article lacked any real information. Who are they? Why did they travel here? What was their punishment. Will there be restitution? Novato advance... give us more. "

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