'Hoodlums, knock it off,' mayor tells taggers

With a rash of graffiti and tagging around Kalispell, Police Chief Roger Nasset said he will provide regular updates to the Kalispell City Council on efforts to curb the vandalism.

At Monday’s council meeting, Mayor Tammi Fisher asked for the updates after a complaint by Vaughn Penrod, who handed out pictures of graffiti he has seen around the city.

“So, hoodlums, knock it off,” Fisher said.

Penrod said he has noticed a graffiti problem while driving around the city and asked the council to encourage property owners to report and clean it up.

“If it’s left up, they will continue to wreak havoc on that area,” Penrod said during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting.

“Sometimes it takes two or three times of cleaning it and then they’ll leave you alone ... It’s a big blemish wherever it descends,” Penrod said.

Nasset said police officers have been out looking for graffiti and the people behind it and installing cameras. The also been reporting graffiti that needs cleaned up to the Center for Restorative Youth Justice.

“It seems like there is a group [behind it],” Nasset said of the graffiti.

“I think council would be surprised how much Restorative Justice is removing for us. We get it off and it gets put back up time and time again.”

Reached for comment Tuesday, Shareen Spring, executive director of the Center For Restorative Youth Justice, said the nonprofit organization had a busy summer removing graffiti around the city.

“Sometimes we get reports from police, sometimes we get reports from businesses,” she said. “This summer was kind of notably worse than it has been in the past.”

The nonprofit’s graffiti removal team has a limited ability to respond because it operates using donated supplies that work best in warmer weather.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.