What happened to the task force?

Last week we spotted swastikas painted on the cement cistern in Los Jilgueros Preserve. We reported it to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department Substation, where we were told to contact Rick Aldana with Fallbrook Rotary. Rick promptly painted out the markings.

The next day swastikas appeared over the freshly cleaned area. On December 16 my husband cleaned off the disturbing graffiti along with graffiti on the wooden walkway along Mission.

Over the past months we have cleaned off paint and rotten fruit thrown onto the kiosks, gang marker graffiti on the benches and signs, and now this.

In October, according to a press release, five groups formed the Fallbrook Anti-Graffiti Task force with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, Keep Fallbrook Clean and Green, the Fallbrook Beautification Alliance and the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District teamed with the Fallbrook Rotary Anti-Graffiti Enforcement Program to address the problem and expedite its removal.

The release said, “…the new organization is creating a variety of strategies to remove, to reduce and to prevent graffiti, including: a parent outreach program through the local school districts to educate parents about graffiti and gang activity; expansion of the successful Crime Stoppers Program to include financial incentives for the anonymous reporting of graffiti activity that results in an arrest; a community-wide campaign to encourage residents to report graffiti immediately, and even to remove graffiti in their own immediate neighborhood if possible; a publicity campaign to educate residents on graffiti and how to combat it; the expansion of the Rotary’s Anti-Graffiti Enforcement (RAGE) Program to include additional volunteers who will paint out graffiti; and the development of a newly streamlined graffiti reporting system.”

Two days after we read the press release, graffiti appeared on county signs and a realtor sign at the entrance to Los Jilgueros. As instructed in the press release, we called the Sheriff’s Department Senior Volunteers at (760) 451-3144, where a recorded voice asked for details.

That graffiti is still there and incidents have increased. What’s happened to the Anti-Graffiti Task Force?

Jim and Sarah Bates