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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Room for improvement ... Electric Highway aims to spark more EV use ... Rogue River man held on murder charge ... Room for improvement ... Electric Highway aims to spark more EV use ... Rogue River man held on murder charge ... VANDALISM Graffiti skyrockets in Medford Police attribute some to protests over Ferguson shooting Comment By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 5, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 5, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Darin Chase of Phoenix painted the fence of his rental house in West Medford last week for the sixth time since he and his wife bought the property seven years ago. The fence was tagged twice in December. Both times it read “FTP” (“---- the police”) and the second time it was signed X13, a symbol associated with the Sureños gang. “Other times, it’s been nasty words,” he said. “It gets to be kind of a hassle, and it’s unsightly.” His wife, Jamie Chase, said she’s ready to install a camera. In December, Medford police received about 104 reports of graffiti — more than three times the 32 reports they received in November and nearly seven times more than the 15 reported in October. The vandals have targeted fences along alleyways, utility boxes, city parks and, more recently, cars, said Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau. While the majority of graffiti are tags by local gangs, anti-police messages have become more prevalent since the shooting of a black unarmed teenager by a white officer Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. “We think that it's a response to some of the police brutality protests going on nationwide,” Budreau said. “We have very few folks speaking out about that around here, but we have seen the graffiti.” The abbreviations “FTP” and “FTL” (“---- the law”) have been found scrawled in various places around Medford. There also have been red and blue tags by the Norteños and Sureños gangs, respectively, and abbreviations such as "VDF," for the Varrio Dub Flats gang, a subset of the Sureños. Sometimes, the graffiti is the work of  "taggers" who sign their name or moniker and call it "art," said Lt. Kevin Walruff of the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement task force. Police urge homeowners to report any vandalism and cover it up as soon as possible. According to the Medford Municipal Code, property owners have 10 days to get it cleaned up. “The best thing to do is get rid of it,” Budreau said. “If you continually get rid of it, they’ll either quit doing it or go somewhere else.” Medford Police Department offers a Graffiti Abatement Program, run by Community Service Officer Todd Sales, in which juvenile offenders clean up or paint over targeted areas as part of their community service, Walruff said. Juveniles are responsible for the majority of the graffiti in the area, Budreau said, adding that he thinks the numbers will drop once kids are back in school after winter break. Police look at all the graffiti cases to identify which are the work of the same person and then try to identify that person, sometimes with the help of graffiti cameras and other surveillance equipment, Budreau said. “But it’s one of those crimes that only takes a minute to do, and if they're not observed by somebody, then it can be very difficult to identify them," he said. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 5, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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