Smile, taggers, you may be on the city’s camera

Diana Sahagun

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 9:15 a.m.

Taggers beware: If you plan to leave your mark on the city with spray paint, you might be on camera.

The city of Las Vegas is testing a new graffiti deterrent system -- known as FlashCam -- which features a small camera mounted on a light pole that snaps pictures of anyone who enters the area the system is guarding.

The system, which is activated by motion, is currently being used in Southern California cities as a way to combat vandalism, graffiti and illegal dumping.

The city on Wednesday installed the system to guard a stretch of wall fronting U.S. 95 near Jones Boulevard, a wall that must be repainted twice a week because of graffiti, city officials said.

Councilman Michael McDonald, who sponsored an ordinance in 1997 that holds parents of juveniles liable if their child is caught defacing property, said the system is another tool for Metro Police to help keep neighborhoods clean.

Once the pictures are taken, they will be forwarded to Metro to identify the tagger, McDonald said.

McDonald's assistant, Doug Rankin, found the system recently when he attended a conference in Los Angeles, where the FlashCam is currently being used in deterring graffiti.

Ken Anderson, inventor and president of Q-Star Technology, said the key is rotating the locations of the devices throughout the city, so taggers won't know where they could be photographed.

The system also allows users to record a voice message that is played when the motion is detected, warning potential violators that they are being photographed. McDonald lent his voice to the warning message on Wednesday.

The system is being installed on a test basis for several weeks and will then be evaluated by city officials.