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WILKES-BARRE — Criminals are supposed to be the ones who pay for the crimes they commit. But, when it comes to graffiti, it’s the crime victims who usually end up bearing all the cost.
Graffiti has been a topic of discussion at more than a few Wilkes-Barre City Council meetings over the last few years, with residents complaining to council members, and council members, in turn, asking the mayor to address it.
At Tuesday’s work session, Mayor George C. Brown provided council with a copy of a section of city code that addresses graffiti, and he pointed out something property owners might not want to hear — they are responsible for removing graffiti from their property and, if they don’t, the City will do it and charge them for it.
Whenever the city administrator or a designee determines that graffiti exists on public or private property and is visible from any public road, sidewalk or right-of-way, a code enforcement officer shall issue a notice of abatement to the property owner if and when seasonal temperatures permit the painting of exterior surfaces, according to the section of code amended in 2004.
The property owner will have 15 days after the date of notice to remove the graffiti, or it will be subject to removal by the City. The City will place a lien on the property to cover the cost of abatement, the code states.
Brown said he has a list of graffiti-covered properties in the city, and notification letters are typed up and ready to be sent.
“We are aggressively addressing it, but, I’ve got to be fair to people, too. When the temperatures are this cold, I can’t expect people to go out and paint over it right now,” Brown said, noting the “seasonal temperatures” provision in the code.
The code establishes a fine of not more than $1,000, a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days and a minimum of 25 hours of community service for anyone convicted of defacing property with graffiti, but it also notes that conviction is difficult because “the offenses can be committed so very quickly and secretively that witnesses to the acts are frequently nonexistent.”
Indeed, the Irem Temple Restoration Committee posted photos of vandals, some with spray paint cans, caught on video surveillance on social media in May 2023, but, police never prosecuted the crimes because people who recognized the perpetrators refused “to go on the record with police” because they were friends with them, Dale Parmenteri, secretary/treasurer of the committee, said on Friday.
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Brown did not have immediately available data showing how many reports of graffiti or graffiti-related complaints have been filed with police in 2024.
But, Larry Newman, executive director of Diamond City Partnership, the nonprofit downtown management organization for Wilkes-Barre, said the partnership removed 74 different graffiti tags from within the 232-acre Downtown Improvement District last year.
Newman said graffiti removal is one of the free services the partnership provides to rate-paying businesses within the district, and it’s usually done within 24 hours of a business owner providing notice to the partnership. A city ordinance provides that all businesses within the district pay an annual fee that is used to improve beautify and improve the district.
“It was suggested to us that you can tell you’re entering the downtown by the fact that the graffiti disappears,” Newman said.
The good news is that graffiti has decreased downtown. The partnership removed more than 1,400 tags from the district between 2007, when it was first established, and 2018. That’s an average of 127 tags per year versus just 74 last year, Newman said.
Asked why, Newman alluded to the “broken window theory” — a criminological concept which states visible signs of crime and disorder, like a broken window left unrepaired or litter left lying in the street, can signal a lack of social control and encourage further criminal activity, suggesting that addressing minor offenses can prevent more serious crimes from occurring in a neighborhood.
If there’s trash left on the sidewalks, “it’s like giving people a permission slip to litter. Nobody cares, so why should I?” Newman said.
Newman noted that city residents can volunteer for neighborhood cleanups that include graffiti removal, and the City provides resources such as trash bags and litter pickup. It’s not out of the question that the City also might provide paint and brushes or rollers if requested for a neighborhood effort.
Brown said it’s important to remove graffiti from neighborhoods as soon as possible because it can lower property values and “make people feel it’s not the type of neighborhood they want to live in. And I want our neighborhoods to be clean and vibrant and welcoming to new people moving in.”
Brown encourages residents and visitors to the city to report the locations of any graffiti spotted to administrative assistant Lisa Sanfilippo by calling 570-208-4157.
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