It seems the effort by the Tooele City Police Department to curb the city’s graffiti problem is working.

As was reported in last Tuesday’s edition of the Transcript-Bulletin (”Cop turning tide in graffiti battle”), the department has made six arrests since last November, and those arrests are being connected to almost 20 documented graffiti cases.

A conscience effort to catch taggers is being made, and getting results. The department has dedicated an officer, Brad Young, to spearhead graffiti investigations and be at the forefront of the issue. This change has allowed graffiti to become a higher priority. The parks and recreation department of Tooele City has even paid out rewards to informants with information leading to the arrest and conviction of taggers.

We applaud the efforts of the Tooele City Police Department in working tirelessly on an issue that has caused blight to school property, commercial buildings, fences, park equipment, private residences and businesses. But although the department is making headway, this is a battle that is not yet won.

It will be important to educate people in order to find a long-term solution, rather than a quick fix, according to Officer Young.

The public can help combat the graffiti problem by being aware of what’s going on in the neighborhood. Turning on exterior lights overnight can also be helpful.

Just as Officer Young said, the police can only do so much.

“Sometimes you have to stand up for your neighborhood,” he said. “The more eyes we have the more we can do.”

Being vigilant in keeping our eyes and ears open to what’s going on around the community will be key if we want to truly make a difference.

By stopping taggings from consistently happening in our own neighborhoods, maybe we can stop a tagger from also going across town to hit someplace else.

Even those of us whose neighborhoods haven’t been hit yet can take a stand and hopefully prevent the blight from taking hold of our neighborhoods even before any markings appear.