On the early morning of April 9 a person took it upon himself to spray paint graffiti on buildings at 42nd and Thomas. This person caused serious vandalism to properties but more importantly, caused great concern to neighborhood residents and business owners.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department graffiti is a common problem. While a single incident may not seem serious, graffiti has a serious cumulative effect; its initial appearance in a location attracts more graffiti. Minneapolis sees over 150,000 new tags each year. The motives for some graffiti may include anger, hostility toward society, fulfilling a psychological need, boredom, despair, resentment, failure, frustration, adventure, excitement or personal reasons.
The graffiti that was painted on the walls of the aforementioned businesses and garages was a mess. It caused concern among the businesses and residents, but also brought out the good in people in the community. Folks driving by saw the paint and stopped to offer help in cleaning the paint off the buildings, signs, garages and sidewalks. Some neighbors stopped by with paint, another drove to three different fire stations to get graffiti remover, and others brought rags, brushes and the willingness to remove the blight.
There were neighborhood residents who witnessed the vandal painting the graffiti and called the police to report the crime. The police apprehended a suspect. When the police asked the citizens for statements that would help prosecute the criminal, the citizens were no longer interested in working with the police.
We as a community cannot protect our property and expect others to watch out for us if we only do half the job. If someone calls 911 to report a crime that person must follow through and work with the police to get a conviction. The criminal who vandalized the neighborhood caused concern for the residents in the community, and caused nearly $900 worth of damage to the properties. Today that person is not being held responsible for his crime.
Let’s work together to build up our neighborhoods and strengthen our community. Let’s support one another; let’s give the young people in our community the direction they need to be good citizens; let’s assist the police and city staff to keep our neighborhoods safe; and let us each be a good neighbor.
Join the Victory Neighborhood Association Livability Committee on Saturday, June 10, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Papa’s Pizza and Pasta, 4159 Thomas to discuss various opportunities to build on the strengths and health of the neighborhood. If you live in one of the other Camden neighborhoods (see the map on page 10) call your neighborhood association to see what you can do to improve livability in Camden.