New anti-graffiti officer at the 103

At well over six feet tall and built like a bear, NYPD Sgt. John Wilson seems almost too big for the austere, light blue basement office he occupies at the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica.
Yet that is where the 31-year-old police veteran of nine years spends his time as Youth Sergeant of that precinct when he’s not out in the field. In his new role, which he has had for the last five months since joining the 103rd, Wilson also serves as the precinct’s Anti-Graffiti Coordinator and is responsible to oversee graffiti enforcement, clean-up and education efforts.
“It’s a culture, they get consumed by it. But it is still considered a serious crime,” he said.
Wilson said that graffiti vandals, or “artists” as some consider themselves, continually up the ante to “tag” on bigger and increasingly difficult to reach surfaces. A tag is a vandal’s stylized street signature and is often applied quickly and repetitively.
Graffiti falls into categories that include: hate, gang, satanic, street and generic, according to the NYPD web site. But whichever the type, the police are asking community residents to report it. As an incentive, the department is offering a reward of up to $500 for the arrest and conviction of anyone who commits graffiti vandalism.
Many people do not think to report graffiti because they rarely come across a crime in progress. However, the department’s City-Wide Vandals Task Force can use the information to track a perpetrator’s activity, Wilson said.
And besides that, the graffiti will get cleaned up if it is reported.
“It’s an eyesore for everybody,” Wilson said. “They’re helping beautify the community.”
Another incentive that commercial property owners and residential property owners of buildings containing more than six units have to report graffiti is that local laws allow for them to be fined up to $300 for failure to remove it. However, by calling 3-1-1 to report graffiti and signing a waiver allowing the City to clean it up, they will not face a fine.
Wilson said that the 103rd Precinct has seen a decline in calls about graffiti from the community over the past year, and hopes that will change.
“We’re trying to reach out to the community,” he said. “We need the community to interact with us — they’re our eyes and ears.”
The NYPD requests that anyone who sees a graffiti vandalism crime in action call 9-1-1. To provide information on graffiti or to report an incident call 3-1-1.