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Sheriff's Deputies Make Clean Sweep

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By LENORA LAKE, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 27, 2008

UNIVERSITY AREA - Armed with paint and cleaning supplies, six Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies took to the streets west of the University of South Florida.

The mission Feb. 20 was to remove graffiti.

Deputy Chris Brown said the purpose of the University Area cleanup "was to make the area look better. They are putting up new apartments and buildings around here."

The deputies removed gang names and symbols from stop signs and other traffic signs. They painted over markings on sidewalks, roads, fences and other structures. The names or symbols represented Drak, Oak Park, Folk Nation, Oak Boys, the Latin Kings, Hot Boys, Sur 13 and other groups.

For the workday, the deputies secured 20 cans of spray paint and two 5-gallon buckets of paint from a paint recycling center at the county landfill. Special cleaning cloths were used to remove paint.

"We want to make the leftovers cleaning cloths available to deputies so when they see something, they can just clean it," Deputy Barbara Reichard said.

Reichard said that during the past month, as deputies drove through the neighborhood, they kept a list of areas marred by graffiti. In the University Area, they included 20th Street near 138th Avenue, 139th Avenue near 20th Street, 127th Avenue at 20th Street and 142nd at 15th Street.

Several cleanup locations were near the sheriff's District 1 office at 14102 N. 20th St.

"It's almost like they gang members are staking their ground out right here by us," Reichard said.

Brown said she used to see names and symbols for only Latin Kings and Folk Nation. Now there are others, although the deputies cleaning did not know how many gangs or gang members operate or live in the University Area.

Detective Mark Wilder of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said he does not have numbers specific to the University Area.

However, he said 117 gangs are known to operate in the county, with 112 of them based here. There are 2,800 "certified" gang members in the county. Those members have had some kind of interaction with law enforcement and have met the state criteria as a gang member.

During the morning cleanup, residents peered out windows watching the work. As one woman drove by, she slowed to tell the deputies: "God bless all you people. I love you."

Manuel Gonzalez, 13801 N. 20th St., walked outside to watch. He said he has not seen the people tagging the area but often sees where they have been. He said he was glad to see the deputies cleaning.

"They are making a change. I hope they can keep the area clean," Gonzalez said.

Deputy Gerald Andrews said he was surprised how many markings there were on the sidewalks and roads.

"The hardest part has been holding the paint can spray nozzle down as long as you have to," Andrews said.

The group of community resource deputies also targeted Morris Bridge Road signs, which had been tagged recently, in the one-day project.

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.

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