Graffiti incidents spike

Last week, Leghorns Park, a popular practice area for young athletes, was tagged with graffiti that included a vulgar assortment of poorly scribbled images and words. Tagging in such a public place is nothing new for city employees and the volunteers who now clean graffiti off city property on a daily basis, and make sure the mess is cleaned up quickly.

Henri Sarlatte, high school athletic director and president of the Petaluma Girls Softball Association, said the graffiti at Leghorn Park was removed so quickly that he didn't even see the mess and it's likely the young softball players who practice there didn't see it either.

'It's heartbreaking that people have to do that where little kids play,' Sarlatte said.

Graffiti remains a constant issue in Petaluma. Petaluma Police Detective Brian Miller said the department's community resource officer fields several graffiti-related calls each morning. When Miller was on patrol last year, he said an average of 50 graffiti reports came in each month.

Petaluma Police Lt. Mike Cook said the department's list of incidents isn't even an exhaustive one, since most graffiti goes unreported.

The cases that are reported usually lead to quick cleanup, but often not much else.

'Unfortunately, most of the graffiti crimes we get, we don't have a lot of leads on,' Miller said.

Police and officials with Petaluma's Department of Parks and Recreation said each summer sees an influx of graffiti, when kids are on summer break and have more time to practice the illegal art. The most graffiti-ridden areas seem to be downtown and around walking trails, bridges and over-crossings. Miller said only about 10 percent of the graffiti in town is gang-related.

'If there are gang tensions, rivalries or escalating issues, we'll start seeing an up-tick in our gang graffiti,' he said.

So how are all of the city's graffiti targets cleaned so quickly? The answer, according to Park and Landscape Manager Ron DeNicola, is a longtime volunteer known only as 'Graffiti Ed.' Whether he's alone or with a team, Ed is always quick to react to the blights on city land.

'If Ed sees something, or he gets a call on the graffiti hotline, he'll go out and respond almost immediately,' DeNicola said. 'He's one of the best volunteers in town.'

To report graffiti, call the hotline at 776-3606.