In response to Steve Sojka’s comments (guest opinion, Simi Valley Acorn , Feb. 12) regarding stepped-up graffiti abatement in Simi Valley, here is my story.

Kids were behind my home tagging on the walls. I called the Simi PD, who promptly apprehended the kids involved.

They did not write a citation; they did not contact their parents. They told them, without supervision, to go and clean it up.

The kids went back and spent all of 15 seconds throwing some sand on the still-wet paint and left. The damage remained until I called the graffiti hotline and finally they sent someone out who did almost as pathetic a job of the cleanup as the kids.

He rolled out the graffiti visible from my side of the fence but left the graffiti directly behind where he was standing. I asked the police why they did not cite the kids and have them appear with their parents.

They feel that it’s a waste of time, not enough punishment to be an effective deterrent, and they can be of more use handling more serious events.

While I certainly feel more serious events are a priority and understand SVPD’s stand, I also feel the bad behavior of these kids will continue to escalate. The police are dealing with issues that have simply grown as a result of the prior lack of culpability.

Sorry, but I feel Steve Sojka’s get-tough policy is more of a political stepping stone than an actual call to action. It’s not getting better, it’s been getting worse and will continue to do so.

It’s not the policy that will make a difference; it’s all in the follow-through.
Richard Holt
Simi Valley