Successful Community Problem-Solving

Running Head: Successful Community Problem-Solving

Successful Community Problem-Solving Your Name Course Instructor’s Name

The community in Decatur has unwanted graffiti and tries to eliminate it. Spray paint art (graffiti) is illegal, and it is one cause of gang violence. Along with that, it increases a sense of municipal disorder. For many years graffiti art has been a problem which caused law enforcement to take initiative to clean up graffiti paint, identify and arrest suspected graffiti writers.

According to Detective John Jones of The Decatur Police Department, police estimate they will make over 50 arrests related to graffiti writers. This number may indicate that the city will spend over 1.5 million dollars to remove various graffiti writing this year. Despite the shortage with the city’s budget, the Macon County board renewed its promise to the cleanup of graffiti art by refusing the Sheriff’s suggestion to get rid of an inner-city graffiti-removal crew costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The teams called graffiti blasters erase or blot out painted surfaces when needed. However, the faster they cleaned up the drawings, it seemed to make graffiti writers more angry. Writers started to write more than they have in the past.Writers became more active and had drawn graffiti in some of the most daring places in the city.

“Decatur graffiti writing became a competitive sport,” said Detective John Jones. Jerry Tyus, 32, who started writing graffiti in the 1990s stated that he thinks graffiti writing is an art that many people do not understand. Tyus also feels as though he has done no wrong because no one was hurt physically. Along with that, he believes expressing himself through graffiti writing is a way to make the city a more colorful and interesting place to live. The only thing he regrets is going to jail and paying fines, sense he did not write gang signs and other degrading art like other writers.

In 1995, spray paint was banned within city limits. However, the possession of spray paint was outlawed with the exception of commercial use. Near the same

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