Tagging: It's not all Greek to me

I don't know many people who like graffiti. I'm not talking about the type of personal expression that began to find serious standing in the art world about 20 to 25 years ago. I mean the turf markers that I see around town that are much more than simple eyesores.

Few people bother to learn what these arcane scribbles, called "tags," mean. For example, let's look at the recent writing that extends some distance along the retaining wall at main train station on North Avenue.

I can barely make out the script and I am not fluent in gang lingo, but I can decipher an important part of the message: MS 13.

Anyone who cares about improving the quality of life in Plainfield, eradicating crime and the part played by gangs should be reading graffiti, not just glancing at it or trying to ignore it and wishing it weren't there.

Here's why: Last March Newsweek magazine called MS 13 "The Most Dangerous Gang in America."

If the tags appearing in downtown Plainfield were put there by members of MS-13 and not just by wannabe thugs, that's a much bigger problem than a kid with a can of spray paint.

This is not a local problem. MS-13 is an international gang that operates in over 30 states. It is known for violence and its activities are serious enough to be termed "organized crime" by law enforcement officials.

Dealing with criminal gangs is more than the average citizen can cope with, but there are some easy steps to be taken that will help tone down this "advertising."

Plainfield's Special Improvement District (SID) has an anti-graffiti program to clean off, or paint over, the markings in the business district. Weather permitting, The Plaintalker hopes the SID will get their eradication crew out soon to deal with these gang-oriented messages. If the train station writing is New Jersey Transit turf, a phone call needs to be made. The trick with graffiti is to wipe it out as soon as it appears.

Add to the list the big tag The Plaintalker has been watching since last summer. It is plastered on the Front Street side of Supremo market, a half-block from the YWCA.

It's been there so long the paint has faded, but it is undeniably MS 13.

OPINION: Graffiti at prominent locations should not be allowed to stand for any length of time. Tags that identify gangs should be erased as soon as they appear. It seems to me the longer a gang name is permitted to remain visible, the more power gangs can claim over the immediate area and the real estate on which it appears.

--Barbara Todd Kerr

KEYWORDS: gangs, crime, graffiti