Crack down on vandals and parents who let ’em vandalize

Crack down on vandals and parents who let ’em vandalize

There is no better way to put a clamp on vandalism than to catch a few vandals and demonstrate to all the other potential vandals what a really bad idea it is to damage public or private property.

As a former president said, “When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.” Sometimes it takes adults to step in and show the young just how dumb it is to go around a township painting cars and houses or vandalizing a park.

And sometimes the parents of the vandals also need a wake-up call. And the best way of delivering that is to enforce those sections of the Ohio Revised Code that hold parents financially responsible for the wrongdoing of their kids.

Smack the teenagers upside the head (figuratively) and hit the parents in their wallets (literally). If any of the vandals are 18 or older, do both.

We feel it necessary to deliver this get-tough lecture by virtue of recent events in Austintown, where vandals have not only been active in neighborhoods, but in the 911 Memorial Park across Raccoon Road from Austintown Middle School. But our intention is not to pick on Austintown — every community harbors groups of the young, foolish, inconsiderate and destructive. It’s just that Austintown has made news early in the vandalism season, putting it in a position where it can do itself and every other community an immense favor.

A big job

Last Tuesday, 21 homes and vehicles in College Park neighborhood were spray-painted with vulgarities. As Police Chief Bob Gavalier said, the damage was too wide-ranging for someone not to have seen something. Also, the number of taggings would suggest more than one person was involved. And the scope was so broad, that almost certainly the vandals have done some bragging.

So when Gavalier says the department has some people of interest and that he expects to make progress by the end of the week, we’re inclined to share his optimism.

Then it is a matter of what to do next, and that’s where we say police should file as many charges as they can against as many vandals as possible. Whether the cases involve juveniles who must appear in juvenile court or young adults who are charged in county court, the judges should be as strict as possible.

We recognize that in the overall scheme of things, an isolated incident of vandalism is not something the courts are inclined to spend an inordinate amount of time on, but it is important to do so as a matter of justice for the victims and as a deterrent. Vandalism is a quality of life issue.

ORC 3109.09 provides that any owner of property, including any board of education, may take civil action to recover compensatory damages not to exceed $10,000 and court costs from the parent of a minor if the minor willfully damages property. Civil recovery isn’t even dependent upon a prior finding that the juvenile is a delinquent child or upon the child’s conviction of any criminal offense.

This would be a good time for any parent with a child of an age to do something foolish to have a serious talk about how vandalism can result in arrest and embarrassment for child and parent alike. It also carries financial consequences for the parent (perhaps even with a potential for emptying the child’s piggy bank or college fund if the parent chooses to pass along the cost).

It is the responsibility of parents — morally and legally — to exercise reasonable control over their minor children, and to share the consequences when they fail.