The look of a town goes a long way to how residents and visitors alike feel about the town. But when residents and visitors are confronted with gang "tags" on homes and businesses, the town suddenly becomes an ugly place to be. Residents lose civic pride and visitors don't want to come back.

The District Attorney's Gang Task Force, the Guymon Police Department and Texas County Sheriff's Department — among other agencies — have taken a proactive approach to preventing gang activity before it happens. But it is still a reality in our area, and the most visible signs are the tags that deface our public and private property.

The Guymon Police Department documents each case of vandalism or gang tagging, but removal of the offending material is up to the home or business owner.

"The police department is taking photos and documenting any gang graffiti that comes up and encourage anyone — we know they've been victimized — to report it, record it and we need them to remove it," Guymon Police Chief Eddie Adamson said. "We do our very best to deal with any problems that come up, but we would much rather be proactive."

Traditionally, gang tagging rises this time of year to coincide the start of school. Gangs claim and mark their territiry.
"We have had an increase in gang graffiti, but nothing out of the norm," Adamson said. "We actually expected it. We don't like it, but we did expect it."

But removing the graffiti is solely the responsibility of the business or home owner that was victimized.

"Business and homeowners have been very good and proactive in cleaning it up as soon as it happens," Adamson said. "As soon as something goes up, it needs to come down."

Sometimes that's not always the case. Graffiti at the abandoned Wag-A-Bag at Seventh and Main has been present for at least three years. And while a major tagging on the buildings on the east side of the 700 block of Main  has mostly been removed, there are still some markings on the front of the building.

But there is good news. Some local civic organizations, church youth groups and other community service organizations are willing to help out in removing the graffiti.

"The fantastic people at the Lions Club have been tremendous and that's something we want to acknowledge and applaud them for their efforts," Adamson said. "We know other groups who have volunteered to help clean stuff up and we need to make others aware of that."

Various church youth groups have volunteered to remove graffiti at various times.

"Honestly, some people aren't aware of that," Adamson said. "Community service is something a lot of groups require. I know some group members are obligated to do a certain amount of community service and this is a great way to help beautify our city."

As far as offenders removing the graffiti themselves, that's something left up to the judge.

"Ideally, someone commits a crime, we catch the guy and they are forced to pay," Adamson said. "But that's not always the case."

The bottom line is, the stuff needs to come down.

"We realize that if someone has graffiti on their business or home, they have been a victim of a crime," Adamson said. "But it also goes to having to do upkeep of their property.

"We recognize that it needs to come down, but luckily we have some people who do that. If they ask around there are people who are willing to lend a helping hand."