Off-duty police officers paint over graffiti

PUHI — Seven police officers from the Lihu‘e district recently spent a day off painting over graffiti at the old Puhi Park.

“Graffiti is a big problem at our park facilities, and lately, much of it has been very offensive in nature,” said Lt. Kaleo Perez, Kaua’i Police Department Lihu‘e District Commander, in a press release. “Our park caretakers are doing their best to clean it up, but sometimes they need the help of community groups, especially when violators attack a building right after it’s been cleaned up and painted over.”

Perez said that before the recent clean-up, graffiti at the old Puhi Park was found on both interior and exterior walls of the men’s and women’s restrooms, as well as on pavilion pillars and the baseball dugout.

“It was actually a partnership between the Parks Department and the police officers,” Perez said. “Parks personnel first painted over the graffiti with white paint, and then we went in and painted the walls and pillars in the standard tan wall color.”

The paint, brushes and rollers used in the graffiti-busting project was provided through the county’s Adopt-a-Park program.

Perez urges the public to be on the lookout for “taggers”, and to contact police if they see anyone doing graffiti.

“Graffiti is not only an eyesore; it costs taxpayers money, takes up our park caretakers time when they could be doing other projects, and it’s a definitely a crime,” said Perez.

Graffiti is classified as criminal property damage, no matter what size it is. It can range in seriousness from a petty misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the extent of the damage and the cost to repair.

For more information on the county’s Adopt-A-Park program, contact Eddie Sarita at 241-6623.

Free paint and painting supplies will be provided to Adopt-A-Park volunteers and those who want to help eliminate graffiti.