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NATIONAL CONCERNED OFFICERS ORGANIZATION ON GANG ACTIVITIES INC.
879 West Park Avenue, Cobblestone Village #161, Ocean Township, New Jersey 07712 (732) 460-0804 Office (732) 460-0804 Fax detectedor 816 N. Delsea Drive, Doubletree Center PMB# 324 Glassboro, New Jersey 08028 (586) 881-1330 Office (732) 881-1330 Fax Detected CF9294733-22
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GGRAFFITI AND GRAFFITI REMOVAL Graffiti is more than just an eyesore: It encourages violence, and writing it is a crime (Criminal Mischief). Gangs use graffiti to mark their territory, advertise their existence or claim "credit" for a crime. For many gangs, the sheer act of marking graffiti on a wall is a direct challenge to rivals to fight. There is no greater humiliation for a gang than having its symbol degraded by rivals.Writing the graffiti of adversary upside-down, marking over it or similar written taunts have excited several fights. Flaunting one's territorial authority through graffiti has caused many homicides. Remember graffiti is no more than a "Street Newspaper" setup by and to be read by those people who hang on the street daily. Removing graffiti as soon as possible discourages kids from writing it and keeps the intended messages from being transmitted or interpreted by others. Since most gangs write graffiti to stake a claim to territory. removing their "mark" invalidates that claim. School principles who have the greatest success in limiting gang activities make sure graffiti is removed from the school within a few hours after it appears. http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/bwessman/symbol.htmAs part of the anti-gang activities of the National Concerned Officers Organization On Gang Activities, an anti-graffiti program has trained more than 20 youth in graffiti removal projects. We have found that anti-graffiti block parties help motivate juveniles to get involved. Hope Ricewasser, suggests daily checks for graffiti on campus, business, court houses, etc. especially on rest-room walls and doors. "We make sure graffiti is gone within an hour of finding it." Ricewasser says. "That way, the gang who did it doesn't have the satisfaction of knowing other people even saw it." Ricewasser also recommends keeping a supply of paint and paintbrushes on hand, and assigning students who are tardy or who have disciplinary problems to paint over the area. Other suggestions include: * Photograph graffiti before removing for disciplinary or criminal action when offenders are identified. Involve law enforcement immediately to have them interview suspects. Photograph paint on the hand or clothing that matches the graffiti paint color. Store evidence such as paint or paint-spattered clothes in a safe place for later prosecution. * Begin a School Pride campaign, including poster contest, slogans painted on buttons, folders and posters; assign tardy students to trash pickup after nutrition and lunch breaks; and involve the horticulture class in a beautification project. Gang members won't participate, but the peer pressure by other students may help. * Learn to identify groups on campus responsible for graffiti, as well as their nicknames and style of graffiti they use. Call them to a conference to discuss school pride and ways to eliminate graffiti at school. * Keep all schools neutral territory. * Have students design and paint murals, and make sure to recognize their contributions publicly THE "PLACA" To the suburbanite it's an eyesore of unintelligible spray paint, to the cop it's what make the beat feel like home but to the Hispanic/Mexican gangsters or "Chicanos", it's a code, a message, a challenge and they can read it plain as day... it's the "Placa".Chicano gangsters have been painting their placas on walls for 50 years, this is not a passing fad, one that we all hope will die out (like disco), being a Chicano is an established culture that is here to stay, the "Whitefence" gang in East LA is over 80 years old. Believe it or not, there are college classes on the subject now. It's more than just graffiti, these placas allow the gangster to express his opinion of himself, his gang, other gangs and allows him to directly challenge anyone, including police officers. It might look like common chicken scratch but placas include codes and symbols that have common meanings throughout the Southwest United States. For the street cop that can read placas, driving down any street in the ghetto is like driving through a book, (s)he can read story after story and even predict trouble between gangs. To the passer by, it looks like hieroglyphics, to the officer it reads "We are going to fight tomorrow" as if it were on a billboard.Below is a guide on reading placas, the below does not apply to black gangs, blacks have a similar but different style.
ACRONYMS For Hispanic/Mexican gangs, Bakersfield is the line between Northern (El Norte) and Southern (Del Sur) California. "13" refers to the South "Sur", "14", North "Norte", letter "N" being 14th in the alphabet. The placas above are large, to save time and fit a complete message in a small area, gangsters have perfected the use of acronyms.This means "Little Unity from (a clique inside the gang) from South Side Stockton Neighborhood Gang rules". 14 indicates they are from the North. 1 gang can have several cliques, South Side Stockton might 3 cliques: "Little Unity", "Termites" and the "Poobutts". The "Poobutts" might be 3 gangsters, "Dopey", "Stupid" and "Bunghole", so if you were to refer to "Dopey", he'd be "Dopey from South Side Stockton Little Unity". A placa can be the same (but different) to what taggers do. Perhaps you've heard of a tagger called "Chaka", he caused millions in damage in Southern California. His placa was the word "Chaca", but it carried no gang meaning. If Chaka tagged a gang placa, Chaca would be targeted for payback. Taggers are like "ghetto hackers", they tag very large freeway overpasses, billboards and other public areas that are risky. It's the challenge that attracts some of them, the more difficult the tag, the more fellow taggers will admire that tagger.. and want to do one better. Tagging police cars is a huge status symbol. A placa can also be a tattoo or signature. Placas don't have to be painted, they use sandpaper & ice picks to scratch fiberglass bus stops and glass, or markers for painted walls, benches tables ect. Taggers and gangsters are a menace to society. Because the juvenile court system does next to nothing, they need to get caught 6 or 7 times before any meaningful punishment is handed out. They will tag anything, and everything, I've seen a placas on everything from stray dogs walking by, to between the legs of a rape victim (in marker). Other street gang newspaper (graffiti) hit below. 1. http://members.aol.com/Kentrump/faq.html 2. http://www.graffiti.org/lala22.html3. http://www.hip-hop.com/section8/graffitiflix.html 
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