Graffiti in Tustin in the last several months dropped about 21 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to recently released statistics from the city's Community Development Department.

June through September averaged 324 graffiti incidents each, compared to 411 during the same months last year. August saw the biggest decrease of 29 percent, with 443 cases in 2012 falling to 313 in 2013.

In this file photo, Police Services Officer Marcella Sambrano takes a photo of graffiti in Tustin. Tustin police use a database called TAGRS to document and track graffiti.

While graffiti activity has a cyclical nature, the reason for the recent decrease is unclear, said Amy Stonich, senior planner for the city and co-chair of the Neighborhood Improvement Task Force.

The task force, which brings together city staff, governmental agencies, police and other groups, has been working on the issue, along with the Tustin Against Graffiti (TAG) Task Force.

TAG, an internal committee formed in 2008, uses a database administered through the Orange County Sheriff's Department to track and find hotspots of graffiti, said Tustin police Lt. Paul Garaven. Tracking and Automated Graffiti Reporting System, or TAGRS, helps track similar graffiti and monikers. The gang unit and special enforcement detail can target areas where there are graffiti problems, if they can identify who is doing it through gang marks or affiliation, Garaven said.

Factors such as warm weather and no school are linked to increases in graffiti, said Elizabeth Binsack, community development director, at a recent Planning Commission meeting. However, this summer showed lower rates than previous years.

"I'm curious why it's lower this month," Stonich said. "For many months it was going up and all of a sudden it dropped off by quite a bit."

Arrests of gang members who are responsible for a lot of graffiti can lead to a reduction as well. But there have been no arrests that would correlate to the low numbers, according to Sgt. Andy Birozy.

Each 10-foot-by-10-foot area of graffiti is considered an "incident," and it costs $40 for cleanup by the city's contractor, Stonich said. If the person is caught and convicted, the city can collect restitution and be paid back for the cost, she added.

Residents are encouraged to call the city's graffiti removal hotline at 714-573-3111 to report incidents of graffiti in their neighborhoods.

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In California's Orange County, over 350 miles of storm channels and urban waterways help transport rain and stormwater to the coast, where some of California's most pristine coastal beaches and ecological preserves reside. Over time, however, the county's storm channels and waterways were neglected, and considerably high levels of debris and trash accumulated within them. Graffiti also spread throughout the system of channels, creating a sense of urban decay that stimulated undesirable activities, including the growth of gangs.

Given global climate change and the uncertainty of future weather patterns, a powerful and sudden storm could flood the County if the channels remained clogged, negatively impacting and endangering over 3 million people, buildings, and valuable property—not to mention the currently intact and valuable coastal preserves and beaches. Something also had to be done to blunt the blight of graffiti and the threat of gang violence that the system of neglected channels helped propagate.

It was because of this dilemma, that a powerful member of Orange County's business community got involved. Frank Dela Vera, Disneyland Resort's Director of Environmental Affairs, has been credited with the conception of the "Adopt a Channel" idea. Working with Orange County Conservation Corps and other partners, Disneyland decided it wanted to pilot a program modeled after the successful "Adopt a Highway" programs that have become ubiquitous throughout the United States. The goal would be to remove debris and graffiti from the county's channels.

They started with a two-mile stretch of the Anaheim-Barber City Channel flowing from the Disneyland Resort to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, a coastal wetland that provides a home to numerous threatened and endangered species. With an investment of $50,000 from Disneyland, Orange County Conservation Corps (OCCC) would mobilize Corpsmembers to help make the project a success. But they also recognized the value of what additional partners could offer.

Personnel from the Orange County Department of Public Works, the agency that monitors the channels, helped mentor OCCC staff and Corpsmembers on crucial graffiti removal tactics, as well as safety procedures and best practices. In conjunction with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Corpsmembers were also trained to enter data into the "Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System" (TAGRS) computer program. The TAGRS system is an informational database containing photos of graffiti, listings of monikers, and identities of subjects identified through law enforcement contacts as possibly being involved with graffiti and other similar types of vandalism. Crews were trained and outfitted with a Galaxy Tablet II, connected into the TAGRS database. Corpsmembers would input data and photo journal the graffiti into the database program that will potentially link the criminals to the vandalism.

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On Friday – November 8, 2013 at approximately 0800 hours, the Murrieta/Temecula Regional Gang Task Force (MTRGTF) served a search warrant in the 24000 block of Shoshonee Dr., Murrieta in regards to a felony vandalism/graffiti investigation.  The investigation was initiated at Creekside High School (Murrieta), where some of the vandalism/graffiti took place.

During the service of the search warrant, investigators contacted suspect: Nikko Talavera (an 18-year-old resident of Murrieta).  Investigation revealed Nikko Talavera was suspected of being responsible for tagging the moniker "PHLO".  As the search continued, several items of evidentiary value were located and collected inside the residence.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, Nikko Talavera was taken into custody for 594(b)(1)PC – Felony Vandalism and later transported to the Southwest Detention Facility.

It should also be noted this investigation was assisted by a multi-county data base known as "TAGRS", which stands for "Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System".  The city of Murrieta and the Murrieta Police Department use this system to help combat graffiti.

This system was used to locate multiple locations throughout the city of Murrieta of where the graffiti "PHLO" was found.  At the time of this press-release, the known cost to clean up these locations was approximately $1,400.00.

Anyone with information or questions regarding this investigation can contact the MTRGTF Supervisor – Sgt. Weller at 951-461-6318.  Or, you can also provide information anonymously through "We Tip" at 1-800-78-CRIME.

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An 18-year-old Murrieta man suspected of spray-painting multiple locations throughout the city was taken into custody Friday.

Nikko Cruz Talavera was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism for allegedly causing $1,400 damage to public property, according to Murrieta police Sgt. Don Weller.

He said Talavera was identified following a recent investigation that began at Creekside High School, 24150 Hayes Ave., where some of the graffiti vandalism occurred.

The "tagger" marked his targets with the moniker "PHLO," according to Weller.

Using a Riverside County database known as TAGRS -- Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System -- that aids investigators in identifying patterns, Murrieta police were able to narrow down the list of suspects and eventually collected enough evidence to justify a search warrant, which was served at Talavera's home at 24953 Shoshonee Drive, Weller said.

"Based on the totality of the circumstances, Talavera was taken into custody for felony vandalism," the sergeant said.

The suspect was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta but posted $5,000 bail and was released a short time later.

Anyone with information about the case was encouraged to contact Weller at 951-461-6318.

—City News Service