On Tuesday afternoon, one of city hall's local service elevators had this marking on its inner doors and it definitely looks like a tag. It's not surprising to see something like this because a) city hall is open to the public during business hours (but you do have to sign in) and b) tags like this only take seconds to do. Still a bold move -- you never know if a police officer will be joining you on the elevator when those doors open. more ›

We've seen it time after time. Someone approaches a tagger in action and they get shot, usually fatally. The LAPD recommends getting out of harms way and calling 911, but when former Crips gang member Ronald L. Barron saw a tagger spray painting on Sunday evening on Pico Boulevard, he approached him. There was good reason for that, however, as Barron had transformed his life, becoming a gang outreach and intervention worker. more ›

On Wednesday morning a team of LAPD and probation officers, along with Councilman Dennis Zine and the Department of Children and Family Services, conducted tagger probation compliance check operation. 11 West Valley homes of subjects who were on probation, with search and seizure conditions, for graffiti and related vandalism offenses were checked and one person was netted. more ›

When will we learn? Just because they spray paint cans may seem harmless doesn't mean the people using are not. A man who approached taggers in Santa Ana this morning was attacked, says the LA Times: "The 38-year-old was walking near the intersection of McFadden and Orange avenues just after 2 a.m. when he saw a group of three young men painting graffiti on a wall, said Santa Ana Police Cmdr. Tammy Franks. The man told them to stop. After pausing, the three men, joined by two others, surrounded the man and began hitting, kicking and stabbing him in the torso. The man, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital and is recovering from injuries that are not life-threatening." He got lucky and we thank him for his bravery. However, many times people are murdered over this. The LAPD says if you witness a tagger, clear the area and call 911. more ›

This is nothing new, but on today's City Council agenda (.pdf) are motions to pay $1,000 to citizens for helping police catch taggers in five different locations around Los Angeles: more ›

Steve Lopez has a good knack for getting stories about the City of LA in their stupid moments. The latest is about a family store in Highland Park that was getting tagged by taggers and gangsters on an almost daily basis. The family would clean the graffiti, it would soon come back. So the family hired two respected street artists for $3000 to paint a mural and the tagging stopped. Well, someone complained about the mural and the city sent a letter ordering the family to comply and take the art down (the mural needed a permit). They didn't, so the city painted it for them (in an unmatched color). What almost immediately happened next? Graffiti. more ›

In light of the new graffiti law Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law this week, the Associated Press has looked into a concerning pattern about graffiti taggers and the public's safety. Over the past couple years, four people have died when approaching or witnessing taggers in action. more ›

When a tagger gets sentenced, it's up to the judge whether or not being on a clean up crew is part of the punishment or not. Soon, it will be mandatory after Governor Schwarzenegger signed some new graffiti legislation sponsored by Los Angeles that forces part of their punishment to be cleaning graffiti. City officials say graffiti has increased significantly in the past few years, from "25 million square feet of graffiti-stained surfaces in 2005 to 31.7 million in the year that ended June 30," reports the LA Times. But could it also be that with the success of the 24-hour operator staffed 3-1-1 city hotline: more people can easily report graffiti than before. You can also report graffiti online. more ›

Cyrus Yazdani, 24, who is known on the streets as Buket, was arrested after videos of him allegedly tagging around Los Angeles were posted on YouTube. Los Angeles County Sheriff's had been looking for him for awhile and finally caught up with the by-day Las Vegas convention planner/by-night alleged prolific street tagger with a criminal record (see videos here of him on a freeway bridge and tagging a bus in downtown during the middle of a busy day). more ›

Back in March, three guys taped themselves scamming Del Taco in order to get free food, which is essentially stealing. They put the whole how-to guide on YouTube, which led to their arrest. more ›

After confronting a tagger in Garden Grove, a man was shot four times in the upper body, according to police. The incident took place around 10 p.m. Sunday night at the corner of Robyn Court and Trask Avenue. more ›