Covington officials installing lights to combat increasing graffiti activity

With the new generation establishing a culture of its own, just as generations before, one particular activity is snarling the focus of law enforcement and causing city leaders and local citizens stress.

Graffiti is popping up in the early daylight hours in places clean of the scribbling just the day before. And, within many of the scrawlings, the amateur “artists” are adding offensive slogans.

Officers with the Covington Street Patrol confirmed that details of the offensive scribbling might be deciphered as hints of drug activity.

Although, graffiti is becoming a common sight in the larger urban areas, the illegal defacing of highly visible surfaces is evident in certain Northshore locations. Covington officials have begun battling the issue at the most highly targeted locations inside the city limits, specifically, the First Ave Park, the Menetre Boat Launch and Hubie Gallagher Park.

After complaints filed by locals who frequent the neighborhood parks, Councilman Lee Alexius, whose district includes two of the heavily marked park locations, and Mayor Candace Watkins met with residents to get an up-close look at the recent vandalism of city property.

“I am very concerned about the amount of graffiti,” Alexius said. “It’s been an ongoing issue for years. And the extra activity going on in the parks after dark is posing additional problems.”

So, in response to the citizen outcry, Alexius, Watkins, Covington park superintendent Robert Celestine and city administrator Beverly Gariepy developed a plan to lessen the havoc-reeking opportunities of the graffiti vandals.

Wednesday, building maintenance inspector Ronnie Russell and city Public Works employees began installation of electrical conduit that will bring electricity for flood lighting to areas most targeted by the amateur graffiti artists, beginning at the First Avenue Park gazebo.

Russell said the lights are fitted for dusk-to-dawn lighting and motion detectors. The lights burn on separate circuits, he explained, so that tampering with one light will not affect the others.

Alexius explained that installation of the sensor lighting would lessen the vulnerability of locations most under attack by the spray painting and activities often accompanying late night misconduct.

Covington Police Chief Richard Palmisano said graffiti problems escalate during the summer months when children are out of school. Patrol officers are aware of the highly targeted areas, those being predominately parks, Palmisano said. Another precautionary measure requested by Palmisano is to have overgrown shrubbery cut down to low levels.

“This problem is not going on like this at all park locations,” Celestine said as he inspected the destruction at First Avenue Park. But, the cleanup job gets rough, he explained, with the extra strain of park graffiti cleanup.

“At Hubie Gallagher Park on 15th Avenue, kids are marking the parks in ways I wouldn’t even ask my employees to clean,” he said.

Celestine added that much of the profane acts of vandalism are visual shows of territorial activity.

Fines imposed on graffiti vandals are much the same as those handed out for disturbing the piece and vandalism, City Magistrate Patrick Moore said. Those proven guilty of the crime are often required to perform hours of public service.