With Cuts to Resources, Fighting Vandalism is a Community Effort

When owner Creig Muscato pulls into work each day, a three-foot black scrawl greets him in the parking lot. Employees file past green and orange scribbles on their way through his doors. And when patrons peer out the windows of his coffee shop, white spray-paint designs stare back.  

“It looks awful,” he said about the graffiti surrounding his business. “It devalues the property and reflects poorly on the businesses. It gives a bad image of the neighborhood and the town neighborhood itself.”

The vandalism is not solely concentrated around Muscato’s Mass Ave. coffee shop, nor is it only rampant in the Town Center. Resident Bob Radochia snapped more than 50 photos of graffiti around town, which he presented to the at a meeting last month.

Concerned residents like Radochia said they feel these unwanted insignias have become emblems of a growing crime rate in Arlington and business owners fear the consequences of the unchecked graffiti.    

“If we don’t eradicate it, it encourages more,” Muscato said. “Graffiti tends to grow on itself.”

The Cuts

 According to the ’s Crime Analysis Unit, there have been roughly the same number of graffiti incidents reported in 2011 during the same time period in 2010. At this time last year, seven tagging incidents were reported, compared to the six reported thus far this year.  

When Radochia spoke before the Board of Selectmen last month, he said only two of the instances he reported in January were removed. Muscato said the graffiti surrounding his business has also gone unanswered for several months.

Town officials say the reason for the increased graffiti sightings around town and the lag time for clean-up boils down to the same thing, manpower.

Already understaffed and strapped for resources, the Arlington Police Department is bracing for additional budget cuts next year. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 cuts 5 percent, or $3 million, from the APD’s budget which will eliminate three positions on the force, including a captain, and reduce the minimum manning levels on some late-night shifts. The new budget also cuts the Community Outreach Officer position, the person responsible for following through on all incidents of graffiti. 

"If that happens, we will become reactive in our response to graffiti incidents and will be unable to effectively enforce the (graffiti) bylaw,” Captain Robert Bongiorno said.

The cuts would also reduce the department's staff to a ratio of 1.4 officers per 1000 residents, which according to Bongiorno, is “not enough police officers to monitor compliance of every bylaw.”

The Effects

 Without the manpower to regulate all of the graffiti around town, residents and officials say they are concerned about the repercussions of vandalism on the community, fearing many Arlington neighborhoods will fall into “Broken Windows Syndrome.”

“If the neighborhood starts to look ratty, people start to feel less safe,” Selectman Annie LaCourt explained. “People who are thinking about committing crimes feel like they are more likely to get away with it because the condition of the neighborhood indicates people aren’t paying attention.”

At the recent at , Police Chief Frederick Ryan said a concerted effort to rebuild the department beginning in 1999 helped reduce crime and the fear of crime in the community. But in recent years, he said budget cuts have deterred the APD’s initiatives. Chief Ryan reported that in 2010, crime increased by more than 20 percent from the previous year and violent crime went up more than 30 percent.

“We’ve undone everything we did up to that point,” he said.

By slashing additional resources, Ryan said the proposed budget will severely limit the department’s ability to police crime.

“(What’s being proposed is) unacceptable to me as chief of police and should be unacceptable to you as taxpayers,” Ryan told those who attended the budget forum.

Selectman LaCourt agrees that the proposed budget cuts present Ryan with “agonizing” policing decisions, as he must weigh investing in community efforts such as graffiti reduction or deploying his resources out to the field.  The Board of Selectmen put forth an override which would raise property taxes in Arlington in favor of keeping town services intact. LaCourt expects the override to be ready in June.

“I’m hoping that we don’t find out what’s above and below the line when it comes to public safety. I’m hoping we don’t find out at what point we cross the line and there’s a disaster," LaCourt said. "We’re going to do the best we can not to get there, no matter what resources we have.”

The Future

As the police department braces for cuts and town officials prepare their override, the town will rely on residents like Radochia and business owners like Muscato to take on a more active role in combating vandalism in their neighborhoods.  

The Board of Selectmen encourages residents to voice their concerns about vandalism and public safety at their bi-monthly meetings. Residents who find instances of graffiti in town can send photos to Town Manager Brian Sullivan via e-mail or report them directly in the selectmen's office in Town Hall.

"[With the graffiti] people may feel discouraged or demoralized about trying to keep the neighborhood up," Selectman LaCourt said. "But we have to keep the neighborhood safe and look out for one another.”