Published July 4, 2007

By TODD ERZEN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

An east-side civic group is looking to ratchet up its war on graffiti by helping to obtain additional motion sensitive cameras for the Des Moines Police Department.

Two such cameras now rotate among various Des Moines hot spots to help deter what often are gang-related acts of vandalism.

Greater East Side Development, an organization formed to encourage economic development in the area through community enhancement and resident cooperation, will purchase a third camera at a cost of $5,000 for its side of town. The group also is working to obtain a fourth camera through a federal grant process.

The FlashCAM-770 cameras are solar-powered and tamper-proof and employ an automated voice to let lawbreakers know they have been caught. In the past year, a camera has been used by Des Moines police at 15 different east-side graffiti-prone locations. The power of the cameras to deter criminal activity has been evident in that not one instance of graffiti has been recorded at those sites when the camera has been present.

Incidents of graffiti has sometimes returned once a camera is removed, however.

"They move the cameras quite regularly," said Des Moines Police Sgt. Vince Valdez. "If they are activated, somebody is going to know the cameras are there. The word is going to spread that they can't be in that area."

Overall, the number of graffiti incidents appears to be increasing in Des Moines, said Greater East Side Development board member and Fairground Neighborhood Association President Dawn Jorgensen. But she said the police aren't sure if that is because the process for reporting it has become easier and more people have become aware of how to report.

In the past two years, Greater East Side Development helped establish and promote a gang and graffiti hot line. Group members have passed out 10,000 business cards, printed in English and Spanish, with the hot line number, a graffiti removal number and the numbers of east-side neighborhood resource police officers.

The hotline has averaged about 100 calls per month and has helped police make numerous arrests. The city's goal is to have all graffiti removed within 48 hours of it being reported.

Lingering graffiti not only promotes additional graffiti because it is a form of gang communication, Jorgensen said, but it also discourages new development or residential transplants to the area by creating a poor first impression.

"It just looks crappy," Jorgensen said.

Reporter Todd Erzen can be reached at (515) 284-8527 or terzen@dmreg.com