DELPHOS — The recent increase of reported vandalism has many residents concerned. A trash can was recently set aflame in a park restroom, a fire extinguisher was set off and car windows have been broken.
Delphos Police Sergeant Kyle Fittro says the department is working a lead on damage to grave stones at St. John’s Cemetery on June 30 and did not elaborate to protect the investigation.
Another issue Fittro is very concerned about is spray-painted graffiti.
“It’s popping up everywhere and makes the city look very bad when you drive around and see it; it makes the town look trashy,” he said.
Fittro says one middle-aged woman is behind the numbers “88” showing up on stop signs and other places. He says there is a loose-knit group calling themselves “The 88s” who are not a gang and are not violent. Other graffiti is sprayed by different individuals and the department asks residents for help catching those responsible.
“If you’re out there with a can of spray paint at 3 a.m. and all is quiet, you can hear and see a cop coming and that’s why it’s very hard for us to catch them in the act. We have to catch them doing it, so if someone sees something that doesn’t look right, go ahead and call us. If it turns out to be nothing, that’s OK but I might catch somebody with a can of spray paint in their pocket and it’s much harder for him to deny that he has been out spray-painting. When I catch him three hours later at his house, he has had time to get rid of the can and change clothes,” he said.
Fittro says local residents frequently report suspicions days after an occurrence and this is of little help.
One of the ways the department is combating these crimes is by enforcing curfew laws.
“We’ve made a lot of curfew arrests and some people think we’re giving kids a hard time but they have no legitimate reason to be out at those hours. Usually, juveniles who are out in the middle of the night are the ones we catch committing some sort of criminal act, whether it’s criminal damaging, vandalism, underage drinking, drug use or theft. That’s why we enforce the curfew law — to cut back on spray-painting and vandalism. If you have a bunch of 16-year-olds running around at 3 a.m., they’re probably looking for something to do and they’re probably going to come up with an idea that’s not very good,” he said.
The sergeant said catching those who commit these types of crimes gives law enforcement and family members a chance to address behavioral issues before they become worse. He says this is why police focus on crimes some may think are a waste of time and resources.
Fittro also says grafiti is something that tends to “feed on itself.”
“These things tend to compound just like interest at the bank. The more grafiti you see, the more people tend to do it,” he said.
As far as the reasons behind the behavior, Fittro says they are probably as varied as the number of delinquents committing the crimes. Though drugs and alcohol are often involved, this isn’t always the case.
“I don’t really know why kids do it. They just think it’s cool. I think their are a lot of reasons but a lot of times I ask them why and they say ‘I don’t know; I thought it would be cool. I was bored.’ And they’re not drunk. They’re not high. They’re misguided,” Fittro said.