Graffiti vandals tagged this sign in addition to mirrors at the Regional Justice Center. Difficult targets give gang members more street credibility, a Metro detective says.
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Even the tightly secured heart of the valley’s justice system is not safe from gang graffiti.
At the request of courthouse marshals, the Metro Police gang unit is trying to identify and arrest whoever defaced several men’s restrooms inside the Regional Justice Center.
The worst damage is inside the men’s room on the main lobby floor, where markings promoting violence and a disrespect for authority are etched into mirrors and doors.
Much of the damage can be attributed to one of the valley’s largest tag crews, ECM, an acronym for “Every Cop’s Misery,” according to Detective Scott Black, a graffiti expert with the gang unit.
“It is a sad state of affairs in our society when the institution designed to protect individual freedoms and rights is subject to this form of vandalism,” said Clark County District Court Administrator Chuck Short.
District Attorney David Roger, whose offices are in the Regional Justice Center, hopes to prosecute the suspects.
“It’s outrageous that these punks would deface the criminal justice system, which is a symbol of justice and liberty,” Roger said. “It shows that some people have no regard for the property rights of others.”
Lt. George Glasper, who oversees the marshals at the courthouse, said the graffiti has intensified in the past few months, spreading to restrooms on other floors and even to signs outside the 17-story building.
“It’s a total disrespect for the justice system and a slap in the face to everyone here,” Glasper said.
In addition to prosecutors, the publicly financed $185 million Regional Justice Center is home to the district judges, justices of the peace, the county clerk’s office, even the Nevada Supreme Court.
In the wake of the latest wave of vandalism, courthouse marshals have stepped up security at metal detectors and say they are keeping a closer eye on the restrooms.
Officials with Clark County’s Real Property Department, which oversees maintenance of the Regional Justice Center, have begun the task of assessing the damage and cleaning up the markings.
Frank Wheat, the department’s property coordinator for the Regional Justice Center, said officials don’t have a damage estimate yet. But investigators expect it will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
Catching tag crews is difficult, but not impossible, Black said.
“They’ve left their signature at the county courthouse,” he said. “We’ve got information to go after them now.”
Black isn’t all that surprised to finding graffiti at the Regional Justice Center.
One of the reasons it has surfaced there, he said, is that more gang and tag crew members are being prosecuted and making appearances in court.
The goal of taggers is to attract as much attention as possible, and making their mark on a high-profile target such as the Regional Justice Center gives them more notoriety, Black said.
“The more difficult the target, the more credibility they get on the streets.”
Jeff German is the Sun’s senior investigative reporter.
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