LAFAYETTE - Don't just cover up that graffiti.
"Report it. Report it. It helps us," said Lafayette police Officer Michael Zambon, who works on the department's street crime unit with a focus on gangs.
Law enforcement officials have said that it's just a fact that gangs exist and operate in Greater Lafayette.
Rather than ignoring or just covering up graffiti, reporting those symbols and letters hidden in it can be very helpful to Zambon and other officers in identifying gang activities or conflicts, he said.
It is difficult to say whether the amount of graffiti has gone up recently, Zambon said. He said he gets about one or two emails a week on graffiti, with about a quarter of them related to gang activities.
But he is clear on this: Too many times, he has seen graffiti get covered up or left intact with nary a call to police.
He's not talking about street art, which often portrays a scene and at times has been commissioned by the city. He's talking about gang graffiti: Largely simplistic, consisting of prominent symbols such as a six-pointed star or trident. Initials of gangs or their members often punctuate those. "(Gang members) are not trying to conceal themselves," said West Lafayette police Capt. David Van Vactor, who is also the department's gang information coordinator. "I don't think anyone tries to challenge us."