Vandals looking to express themselves by coating graffiti on UNM property should expect to suffer stern consequences if they are caught and convicted, said Randy Boeglin, UNM’s dean of students.
“It’s illegal, plain and simple,” Boeglin said. “It has no aesthetic value and anyone who considers pursuing such an activity on campus is taking an incredible risk with their academic future here at UNM.”
Graffiti is considered up to a fourth degree felony and is punishable by a maximum of 163 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine, said Pete Dinelli, deputy city attorney.
Dinelli, who is heading a new program initiated by Mayor Martin Chavez to ensure stiffer penalties to Albuquerque graffiti artists, said that his policy is to sue those found to be guilty of defacing public property rather than pursuing criminal charges against them. A policy, he says, that has met with significant success.
“Nine times out of 10, graffiti artists tried in criminal court get off with minor probation,” Dinelli said. “The city has gotten so fed up with the incredibly high cost of cleaning up the mess that we’ve decided just to sue the hell out of them.”
He added that graffiti is a terrible problem throughout Albuquerque and that the city spends upward of $1 million a year cleaning up the graffiti.
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So far this year, Dinelli said, his program has resulted in 260 graffiti vandals being sued for restitution of their crimes and has netted over $40,000 in reparations thus far.
Boeglin said that he has only seen one incident of a UNM student being caught for vandalizing campus with graffiti, an incident that occurred a year and a half ago. He added that he believes graffiti is a persistent problem on campus and that the University will take a more dispassionate approach in handling student graffiti vandals if and when they are caught.
According to New Mexico law, property damage from graffiti resulting in less than $1,000 is a petty misdemeanor and is punishable up to 100 hours of community service and restitution to the property owner for the cost of damages and restoration.
Graffiti resulting in more than $1,000 is a fourth-degree felony and those found guilty are punishable with more than 10 hours of community service, restitution and in some cases, probation.
According to the Pathfinder, UNM’s official policy manual, UNM has a zero-tolerance policy on graffiti. Anyone participating in such activities on campus will be subject to disciplinary action up to suspension or expulsion.
The Pathfinder’s Student Standards and Grievance Procedures, which dictate how infractions to UNM’s Code of Conduct will be handled, says that students will be issued several warnings, disciplinary probation and up to expulsion.
Dinelli said that UNM should pursue more proactive, productive means of dealing with graffiti vandals on campus.
When someone is caught at UNM red-handed defacing property with graffiti, the University should consider suing them, an action that can result in tremendous penalties including the garnishing of wages, seizing personal property and prove detrimental to their credit rating far into the future until the full restitution is paid, he said.
“Graffiti is a tremendous blight to our society,” Dinelli said. “It destroys the property value, and those that choose to conduct that kind of activity is no better than an animal trying to mark their territory.”
