December 2, 2009

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Fairwood Area Hit by Gang Taggers
What you can do to help

PBS Gang members tagged this wall at the entrance of Carriage Crest Elementary
All photos courtesy of Craig Dailey

To the gang member, tagging may designate territory "ownership," but to the area's law-abiding citizens, tagging is a malicious encroachment of private property and an assault on the community's pride.

Clearly, tagging is a crime of vandalism, and the local police is interested in catching those responsible.

According to King County Sheriff Sam Shirley, the most recent tagging activity can be attributed to a group of middle and high school age youth who originally tagged the Panther Lake apartment community area, with tags beginning to appear last year.

"Now they have ties to some people up this way and have started tagging between the two areas.  We think these particular taggers are middle and high school age, since they tag as they walk between Fairwood and Panther Lake," said Shirley.

PBS Gang According to Shirley, "PBS is a set of Hispanic gang surenos." Sureños in Spanish means "Southerners" and is typically attributed to Mexican American street gangs with origins in the oldest barrios of Southern California. It has been estimated that sureños currently exist

in more than 30 states, with concentrated numbers in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Gang Unit Visits Area Shirley said King County Sheriff's Gang Unit has been tracking the the gang's activities and makes visits to the Fairwood area. "We arrest taggers when we catch them.  It is difficult to catch them because they generally do their thing late at

night when there are no witnesses to call 911," said Shirley.

What You Can Do Community Block Watches are vital to the protection of our neighbors, and that vigilance needs to extend into neighboring areas, keeping a watchful eye out on any suspicious activities. If these groups know they are being watched,

their activities can be curbed if the risk is too great. Shirley recommends that any instances of graffiti be removed as soon as possible.

"If it (the graffiti) is on someone else’s private property you should get their permission first.  If it is on County property, King County Roads will come out and clean it up," said Shirley. "We know who some of the taggers are but the courts require a witness to a specific event before they take a

case.  Sometimes if an individual uses his specific moniker, we can make an arrest." If you witness a specific event happening, promptly call 911. Watchful eyes can make a difference.

Recent Reported Tags in the Fairwood Area