Neighborhood files last-resort class-action suit against frat boy sackings

What nightmares youthful indiscretions can cause in other people's homes:

Tired of years of public urination, assaults and vandalism, residents near UC Berkeley's southern edge last week sued dozens of the university's fraternities.

The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court against more than 70 groups and property owners, contends that the fraternities make life miserable for neighbors by encouraging underage drinking, littering sidewalks and streets, partying all night and shooting pellet guns at residents. The suit asks for unspecified monetary damages and an end to the noise and destruction.

"Every resident of Berkeley has the right to live in a peaceful and safe neighborhood," said lead plaintiff Paul Ghysels, who lives in a 100-year-old house next to a fraternity on Durant Avenue. His wife grew up in the house, he said, and the couple does not want to move.

Here is video footage neighbors produced of some of the frat wreckage; it also documents police involvement and lack thereof:

Graffiti Artists Packing Heat

Before you even think about approaching taggers yourself, read this article.

Gang Graffiti Hits Shelby Park

Spray paint vandalism has come to East Nashville's most pastoral setting and we now have a Vandalism Task Force to deal with graffiti. It's about time that Metro started more aggressively addressing this problem rather than merely waiting to react to complaints from the neighborhoods.

Parks Removes Gang Tags From Community Center

Morgan Park Community Center was tagged on Sunday. I notified Parks on Monday. The results:

Sunday

Today

Just Another January: Gang-Related Graffiti Re-Tags the North End

Despite media attention on law enforcement's progress in targeting gang activity in Nashville, gang-related graffiti re-appeared on private and public property in this new year just like previous new years. In this case, two youths--one looking like a teen and the other looking like a pre-teen--hit Salemtown buildings with blue spray paint. Not long afterward, other unidentified gang youths covered some of the blue paint with their own gang symbols in red and black paint. Here's gallery of this year's vandalism:

6th & Garfield

5th & Buchanan (Plumbers of Nashville)

4th & Coffee

More Owners Target Gang Tags

Plumbers of Nashville (corner of 5th and Buchanan) also removed graffiti from their building within 24 hours of being hit.

Today

Yesterday

Owners Quickly Remove Graffiti

Kudos to the property owners at 5th & Garfield for cleaning up gang-related graffiti within 24 hours of getting tagged.

Today

Yesterday

Gang-Related Graffiti Returns to the North End

In the past 48 hours several business buildings and sign posts were tagged in Salemtown by rival gangs. Our last incidence of gang-related graffiti was in March. The night before last one gang tagged the buildings and last night another gang tagged the first gang's tags and hit other spots.




The best deterrance to gang-related graffiti is removing it as soon after the tagging as possible. That also keeps it from spreading to other buildings in the neighborhood.

Know When To Fold 'Em: Ludye Wallace Caught Visiting His Actual Constituents

He might be innocent until proven guilty in the courts of law, but in the court of my opinion, Metro Council member Ludye Wallace getting cited for high-stakes gambling in a "social club" over on Buchanan Street fits right in with what I see as a lack of character and lapse of ethics he regularly exhibits. Whether it is defending gang graffiti as art, ignoring ethics rules and accepting gifts from companies that could benefit from council action, sponsoring the notion of cluttering our neighborhoods with Vegas-style video billboards, holding closed meetings about important votes with other Council members, trading his vote for school board summer substitute Kay Brooks for a back alley, or ignoring the values of those of us in his district, Ludye Wallace has consistently shown himself to be of low moral caliber as a public servant. While Ludye can also be criticized for conducting his Tennessean interview on his gambling citation during Tuesday's council meeting, it is not necessarily a bad thing; he cannot do too much damage to the community if the press is distracting him from his council responsibilities. I find it much more troubling that he identifies the home (a.k.a. "social club") of a suspected illegal numbers bookie as a routine councilmanic visit in his district.

From S-town to Brentwood: NewsChannel5 Reports on Nashville's Gang Problems

NewsChannel5 did a story last night on Nashville's gang problem that was overall pretty good and, aside from running some gangsta rap in the background at some points, did not seem to me to sensationalize the problem. In fact, the story did exactly what it needed to do: emphasize that gangs are are not simply the burden of neighborhoods proximate to Downtown. As a Metro Detective put it to reporter Amy Rao, "If I was to sit down and show you every confirmed gang member in Davidson County, I could pick out every neighborhood in this County."

While Rao did refer specifically to Salemtown's problems, she did not overdramatize them like some have. At one point the Detective showed a picture of one gang member and told Rao that he lived in Brentwood, the suburban land of four-car garages. If you look at NewsChannel5's map in the screen shot above, you'll see that the gangs are spread all over the map; that was a great graphic depiction of a problem that belongs to all of us who live in Metro. It's not just a problem for those of us in that red little circle superimposed on the North End (you can also click on the map to find the link to view Rao's report).

One slight inaccuracy in the piece involved Rao talking about Salemtown while video showed mostly Crip graffiti in Cheatham Place (to the west of Salemtown), which seems to have a more chronic and enduring problem with the vandalism. There was only one shot that I could identify as graffiti in Salemtown. We get hit, but most of ours comes down pretty quickly due to the Salemtown Neighbors neighborhood watch. Also, the commercial that runs on the NewsChannel5 website promoting the story is way over the top when the narrator says that gang members own our homes because they sit on their turf. I don't know whether that commercial airs on TV, but it stupidly glamorizes the turf battles. According to the report, there will be a second segment of the story on tonight's news.

Gang-Related Graffiti Removed From Morgan Park Less Than 24 Hours After Vandalism

Kudos to the Metro Parks Department for once again responding quickly after the Morgan Park Community Center was hit with gang-related graffiti in the past 24 hours. I called about the graffiti when I saw it this afternoon, only to find out a few minutes later that Parks employees were on the scene in the process of removing it. Quick removal really makes a difference for the neighborhood and I know I speak for many here in thanking Metro for rapid response.

Parks continues to get high marks. Should you see any more graffiti appear at Morgan Park call Park Maintenance at 862-8411 and be sure and report it or any other suspicious activity to Park Rangers at 880-3429.

Vandalism on Morgan Park Community Center.

Parks Dept. employee removes the graffiti this afternoon.

Initial TV Reports On Millersville Church Vandalism Rendered Visible Gang-Related Graffiti Invisible

The general pitch of this past weekend's reports on the local news about vandalism in a small church was that the graffiti was probably a racist hate-crime; I heard no mention of gang-related graffiti, despite the fact that on at least one broadcast (News 2) the camera got a clear shot of the name of a street gang, "Crips," scrawled next to "KKK." The other broadcast I watched, NewsChannel 5, not only did not mention gang-related vandalism, but only showed video of racist words like "KKK." Only in this morning's Tennessean am I reading reports of gang-related graffiti in the church amongst the other race-based graffiti.

I'm wondering why, with such ambiguous vandalism, did the initial reports clearly run with this story as some kind of garden variety racist bigotry, leaving no first impression that street gangs could be involved? My initial response to the cognitive dissonance caused by seeing the word "Crips" on the News 2 report while hearing the News 2 reporter talk about race-hate vandalism was to think that I had misread the graffiti. Why do the mainstream news stations seem to continue to ignore street-gang vandalism, in spite of the possibility that such gang activity is growing in our city and may be incubating in small satellite towns like Millersville, far and away?

Private Property Owners Remove More Graffiti From Structures

This private property at the corner of Garfield and 6th was hit with gang-related graffiti about two weeks ago from two rival gangs. As of today the graffiti has been removed from it and another house near the inter-section. Usually, private property owners, especially those who do not live in the neighborhood, take much longer than developers or Metro to remove such graffiti, but the owner of this house has removed it quickly. Hence, just about all of the vandalism that occurred at Garfield and 6th has been repaired. I am sure that most Salemtown residents are no doubt grateful to all who play a part in responding to the recent rash of vandalism.

Developer and Metro Quickly Respond To Neighbors' Calls To Remove Gang-Related Graffiti

Just a little less than two weeks after gang bangers vandalized private and public properties, a large portion of the graffiti has been removed from developing properties (here's a before photo) and public signs (another before photo). The response was due in large part to quick phone calls on the part of members of Salemtown Neighbors to various parties responsible for repairing vandalism. However, the developers deserve credit for not dragging their feet and Metro Public Works deserves a doff of the cap for responding to residents' phone calls without delay. From the looks of the traffic signs, they seem to have been completely replaced.

The Best Way Of Preventing The Spread Of Gang Graffiti Is To Take It Off Immediately

When private property is hit with graffiti, the property owner is responsible for removing it. And the best way to keep it from happening again is to take it off of property immediately. The owners of the property where Garfield Place is to be built have immediately removed the gang graffiti from the front of their sign (as shown on Enclave yesterday). If graffiti stays on property for a long period of time, it only emboldens and encourages vandals to hit other property and to hit one's own property again after it is taken off.

When vandals hit public property, like this traffic sign at the corner of 6th and Garfield, immediate action is no less a priority. In fact, the sign department has been remarkably responsive in the past to vandalized signs in Salemtown. If you see any traffic signs with red spray-painted gang graffiti like that in this picture, you can fill out this on-line request form to have repairs made. If you would prefer to call, the phone number is 862-8750. The sooner we get graffiti off, the longer it stays off.

Time For Hair-Trigger Dial Pads

I don't know what it is about January and February, but this is about the time last year when gang activity, most notably wearing colors and graffiti (see this and this and this and this), became more prevalent around the neighborhood. It looks like the same vandalism the same time this year, with the painting of several private and public markers on Garfield near 5th and 6th Avenues. I am sad but frankly not surprised that the attractive signs for the 5th Avenue Brownstones and Garfield Place were hit. I am surprised that they were not hit sooner. But for whatever reason, the winter months seem to be the time gangs vandalize the most.

"Salem Town" refers to the "Blood Set" gang occupying 6th Avenue between Garfield St. and Buchanan St. The inverted "C" with the "K" refers to "Crip Killers" (the "Crips" are the opposing gang occupying the Cheatham Place neighborhood). At Salemtown Neighbors meetings, gang detectives have told us in the past that the gangs in Salemtown should not be taken seriously in that they do not present a threat to residents. Seriously complicating that message are recent incidents involving arrests for drugs and guns and alley gunplay after which I found a semi-automatic assault weapon that had been hidden by fleeing individuals. Police assurances last year were fine as long as we only dealt with graffiti. That graffiti now grows more ominous in light of recent potentially lethal events, and it is becoming more difficult to take the detective's assurances seriously.

A local developer called me today in order to let me know that he is following up with Vice about the graffiti. That's a good start. But all of us who are concerned about safety in our neighborhood need to be ready to contact the police at even the slightest indication of suspicious behavior (non-emergency calls go to 862-8600). We should not take our security for granted. The convergence of semi-automatic gunfire and graffiti may be a signal that things are starting to heat up. If increased police patrols can ward off gang behavior, then calling them is the only way we are going to get more patrols. That's just the way that this police department operates.

As it stand now, I have asked the police for increased patrols because having found the gun, we feel less safe. All who live in Salemtown should be doing the same. Numbers matter. Moreover, I call the police each and every time I witness any person exhibiting the slightest suspicious behavior, and I ask them to send a patrol just to check things out. No harm in that. But I make a point to tell them of both the assault weapon that was fired this week and the graffiti, because both lend more urgency to our pressing need for patrols. The more calls they get, the more patrols they will send. We also need to drive the point home to the officers who attend the Salemtown Neighbors meeting on Monday night, for the sake of our own peace of mind.

Maybe The Most Effective Means Of Eliminating Graffiti Is To Eliminate The Target

I've referred several times since February to this market, on the corner of Garfield and 5th Ave., North, which is a perennial target for graffiti-spraying vandals, as you can see by the two pictures I took earlier this week.
While I was merely hoping that the new owners would spray paint over the graffiti before the week was out, little did I know that they had much more impressive designs for ridding the neighborhood of the inviting "Luv 'Ya Blue!" building (you have to remember the Houston Oilers manifestation of the Titans to understand "Luv 'Ya Blue!"), which was always just too tempting for the rascally lads toting red spray paint.

Here, now unveiled, is their block-buster new design:


By the way, notice the back of the Stop sign in the picture above. Gangs had even sprayed it with red paint. While the sign guy was here this morning putting up our neighborhood watch signs, he also went around and covered up the gang graffiti on the traffic signs. Thanks, sign guy.

Looks like the lunch counter is closed. No soup for you. Next!

Graffiti We Don't Like To See

Juvenile gangs hit a couple of their favorite targets with graffiti over the past week-to-ten days. Both are businesses. Neither have removed the graffiti quickly in the past, which is probably what makes them favorites for gang vandalism.

The business above is a plumbing company on 5th Ave. It was hit with graffiti last winter, but the owners left it up for months before taking it down late in the spring. The wall was clean for no more than a few weeks before it was hit again recently.

The business below is a corner market on 5th that was sold and will be razed eventually to build new retail/residential space. The current owners are quicker than the plumbers at getting the graffiti off, but this building continues to be a vandalism magnet probably because it is highly visible and the graffiti tends to stay up for weeks.

Gang-Related Graffiti Resurfaces

Gang-related graffiti reappeared on this house in the 1700 block of 6th Ave., North over the holiday weekend. There is also graffiti painted on the sidewalk, and trash litters the street. Photograph by S-townMike.

After a relatively long hiatus, gang-related graffiti has returned to Salemtown on a much smaller scale than during last winter. Properties near the corner of 6th Ave. and Garfield have been popular targets for vandals in the past.

As I reported almost four months ago, this house has been hit and cleaned once already. Fortunately, this was the only property hit in the vicinity. Businesses and houses hit last February and March were untouched as of this afternoon.

If the property owners of the house above procrastinate on removing the graffiti, the problem will only get worse, and it will bleed over the rest of us. Leaving graffiti only emboldens the boyz.

Ethics Deferred. Graffiti Deterred.

Lost in all of the attention the MSM and bloggers have paid to deliberations over the Mayor's budget are two actions taken by our Metro Council on June 7.

First, they passed the bill to prohibit the sale of spray paint, large sharpies, and "graffiti sticks" to persons under 18. As the bill notes, it is already illegal for persons under 18 to be in possession of these items in public areas or private property where an owner has not consented. The Council's expansion of the law effectively allows businesses to tell teenagers that they not allowed to sell them these items. The debate got personal with Councilmember Amanda McClendon questioning the law credentials of Attorney-by-day and Councilmember-by-night Sam Coleman who kept questioning the legality and constitutionality of prohibiting sales to minors. Councilmember Mike Jameson had a list of store owners who supported the bill in his district, while Councilmember Harold White merely moaned about hypothetical businesses who would face undue hardship if the bill were passed. It was good to see my own Councilmember, Ludye Wallace, switch and advocate giving the bill a chance. It may or may not work, but passing the bill shows that the Metro Council is starting to make more serious and proactive efforts to stop gang-related vandalism in urban neighborhoods like Salemtown.

What they gave on graffiti, they took away in ethics. Councilmember Charlie Tygard introduced and the Council passed by six votes a resolution to defer the Ethics Task Force recommendations until September. His basic rationale was that the Council needs to focus exclusively on the budget rather than to multitask. In a fit of convoluted logic he also argued that ethics is not a pressing issue since all of the members appear to him to be behaving themselves. I guess we can rest easy knowing that Charlie Tygard is keeping his eye out for misbehavior. Let's see how serious they are in the fall after three months of chances to focus on and to review the ethics recommendations.