Dallas Police Propose to Co-opt Street Art as Graffiti Control Measure

by Bill Davenport August 29, 2012

Mayor Mike Rawlings taggging

Dallas police will try a new co-option policy to control illegal graffiti by giving artists ‘free walls’ and sponsoring artistic competitions in exchange for agreements from artists to paint only in state-approved spaces, reports The Dallas Morning News. “The days of, ‘Let’s arrest them all and let God sort them out,’ is just not smart on crime,” Police Chief David Brown told Dallas City Council members during a recent meeting of the Public Safety Committee. “This is an attempt to be smarter on crime.” Skeptical, Council member Sandy Greyson said at the public safety meeting. “I just have very little sympathy for these so-called artists that feel they need to express themselves.” Meanwhile, equally skeptical street artists threaten collaborators with harm, or at least excommunication.

3 comments

You may also like

3 comments

Robert Boyd August 29, 2012 - 10:03

Will there be an official “Graffiti District” with it’s own special street signs?

Reply
Jericho Butters August 29, 2012 - 10:20

John Law don’t understand “To Protect and To Serve,” how he gonna wrap his mind around “Art?”

Reply
Rick Stanton September 17, 2012 - 13:18

Can Dallas make this concept work when countless other cities have failed? Time will tell but the odds are not on their side. Good luck.

Reply

Leave a Comment

Funding generously provided by: