While they may not know it, North County cities aggressively battling graffiti are following a national strategy that sees the urban artwork as something much more than unsightly scribbles on walls.

In what is commonly known as the broken-windows theory, graffiti is seen as a precursor to more serious crimes, declining property values and decaying neighborhoods.

But just as its appearance can trigger a downward spiral, its removal can spark an urban renewal, create a sense of pride and ownership within a community and make neighborhoods safer overall, according to the theory.

Introduced in a 1982 Atlantic Monthly article by college professors George Kelling and James Q. Wilson, the influential theory is gaining national acceptance with an enticing promise: Spending a modest amount on fixing broken windows and painting over graffiti can be the most cost-effective way a city can improve itself.

The idea began getting wide attention after Kelling and co-author Catherine Coles wrote the 1996 book "Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities." Kelling later was hired as a consultant in Boston, Los Angeles and New York to implement his theory, where it was credited with helping reduce crime.

"It's still catching on here," said Michael Eichler, a professor in the school of social work and director of the Consensus Organizing Center at San Diego State University. "I think there's definitely more interest in it, but it's certainly not something that's understood from top to bottom."

Whether by coincidence or design, local cities in the past few years have adopted programs that mimic the broken-widows strategy, and hotlines to report graffiti and quick responses to remove it now are common in North County,

Kelling and his partners stressed pursuing so-called small crimes as well as serious ones because he saw a link between the two. He was proved right when his recommendation to arrest turnstile-jumpers in New York subways netted wanted criminals.

Less tangible, he has written, is a connection between serious crime and broken windows and graffiti.

Both are signs that a city is neglecting a neighborhood, he wrote, and they are invitations to squatters, drug dealers and other bad elements who move in, believing the city and law enforcement have given up on an area.

Cleaning up the block shows somebody is keeping an eye on it, which will scare away the criminals; leaving it alone attracts more bad elements who scare away law-abiding citizens, making the neighborhood worse, the theory states.

"I think people have been smart to see a link to these very early, minor infractions," Eichler said. "From a community point of view, it's very important to put a stop to the things early on."

It may be impossible to definitively link graffiti abatement with crime statistics, however. Crime already is on the decline countywide, and the county's overall violent crime rate in 2007 was the lowest in the past 25 years.

In practice

In Escondido, which adopted a Web-based service to help catch graffiti vandals in 2006, City Council members this month said they wanted to revive a program to award $1,000 for tips that lead to the conviction of graffiti vandals. Fifteen people received awards in the year-long program before it was cut by city staff last July.

Vista this year increased by 60 percent its budget to fight graffiti, Fallbrook formed an anti-graffiti task force last December and San Marcos has an online form for residents to give the city permission to remove graffiti from their property. Carlsbad, Encinitas and Oceanside are among local cities with 24-hour hotlines to report graffiti.

Vista this year will spend $240,000 to fight graffiti. Deputy Pat Shannon is the Sheriff's Department's graffiti officer for the city.

"If it doesn't get covered up, it gives the impression that nobody cares, and that invites more crime in the area," he said. "It's at the heart of the broken-windows theory."

Shannon, a Vista deputy for eight years, was assigned to investigate graffiti in January. His duty is to pursue taggers, mostly juveniles whose goal mostly is to have their artwork seen by as many people as possible.

Another deputy investigates gang graffiti, which differ in appearance and motivation; gang members leave graffiti to mark territory or to challenge a rival's turf.

Whatever the source of the graffiti, Shannon said the city's policy is to document it for evidence and to remove it quickly. A fast removal is a crucial deterrent, he said.

"I've had guys tell me, 'I used to tag, but as soon as I put it up, they covered it, so what's the use?' " Shannon said. "Covering it up as soon as possible is one of the most effective ways of combating graffiti."

Shannon said arrests are made by catching someone in the act or acting on a tip, which sometimes leads to search warrants where he finds cans of paint and incriminating sketchbooks.

The city employs two people to remove graffiti, and Shannon said sometimes it is hard to keep up with the taggers' pace.

"I can do this full time and keep another guy busy," he said. "It'd be nice to have two full-time graffiti investigators. There's just not enough time in my day to cover it all."

In Oceanside, Deputy Public Works Director Joe Arranaga also said it is hard to keep up with the vandals, despite the city's efforts.

"We take it very seriously," Arranaga said. "It's one of our highest priorities."

Oceanside has a 24-hour hotline for graffiti removal, and Arranaga said graffiti usually is covered up within 24 to 48 hours.

But Oceanside has not adopted any new programs or hired additional workers to combat the problem, as have some other local cities.

When the calls are overwhelming, Arranaga said the city pulls a worker off another crew to help the one employee assigned to remove graffiti.

Last October, Oceanside City Council members expressed frustration at the graffiti problem, and Councilman Jack Feller called the situation the worst he had seen in quite a few years.

Common sense

While it seems all local cities have an invigorated commitment to fight graffiti, they weren't necessarily inspired by the broken-windows theory.

In Escondido, Community Development Director Jonathan Brindle said he had heard of the theory but that it was not the driving force for the city's graffiti-abatement. Rather, he said, it was directed by the City Council as a way of improving neighborhood appearances, not deterring crime.

Still, Escondido's efforts parallel the broken-windows theory strategy: Graffiti is removed within 12 and 14 hours of being reported, Brindle said, and perpetrators are pursued. Last year, 126 arrests were made for graffiti violations, Brindle said.

Escondido's graffiti-abatement program is part of the city's Appearance and Compliance Team, which has an annual budget of $760,000, he said.

Eichler said it is not surprising that cities may be following the broken-windows theory without even knowing it.

"People usually have common sense, and they don't need to know it's connected to a theory," he said.

In Fallbrook, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Leonard said a safer community is the goal of a new anti-graffiti task force that united the Sheriff's Department, Crime Stoppers and community groups.

When asked about the broken-windows theory, however, he said he had never heard of it.

You wouldn't know that to hear him talk, however.

"Graffiti seems to be in the same category as an unkempt yard," he said. "It seems to be the sign that the community is not thoughtful about itself. Most of us enjoy living in communities that care for themselves, not in a community with broken windows and husks of vehicles in their front yard."

Leonard called graffiti an indicator of a community's progressing in the wrong direction.

"Does graffiti pull walls down?" he asked rhetorically. "No. But it indicates there's eliminates of uncontrolled activity in your community, and if no one cares if I write graffiti on a wall, maybe they won't care if I throw a brick through their window."

Leonard stressed that Fallbrook's anti-graffiti effort is about the community working together, which Eichler said is one of the residual benefits of improving neighborhoods.

A 24-hour hotline and community policing give people a sense of ownership in their neighborhoods, and once they begin working together on one problem, they are likely to continue to collaborate on other issues, he said.

"In Southern California, anything that gets people to know their neighbors is just a wonderful thing," he said.

Time will tell if the anti-graffiti efforts coincide with a decline in local crime. Even if they do, Eichler noted that critics of the theory have said such reductions could be attributed to other factors.

Still, he said, cities should see no harm in removing graffiti, fixing broken windows and making residents feel they are not neglected.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.