Community Roll Call

There has recently been a real issue with a number of graffiti incidents in the City and I thought it would be appropriate to blog some excerpts from the City's Ordinance.

7.30.030(a) indicates that is unlawful for any person to apply graffiti to any natural or man made surface on any city owned property or, without the permission of the owner on any non-city owned property.

7.30.030(b)(1) indicates that it is unlawful for any person under the age of 18 to possess any graffiti implement and according to 7.30.020 that includes aerosol paint, broad tipped marker, gum label, paint stick or graffiti stick, etching equipment or any other device capable of scarring or leaving a visible mark.

7.03.030(c) indicates that no property owner shall allow graffiti to remain for more than 10 days. Failure to clean graffiti from private property may result in a citation.

So what does all this mean? Simply minors are not allowed to possess any graffiti devices and property owners are requried to remove all graffiti on their property within 10 days. The City of Wauwatosa and County of Milwaukee will remove graffiti from their property.

Further, you are asked to report any graffiti on private or public property to the police department so that a report can be filed which may include the taking of photographs.

On Sunday May 11th the Wauwatosa Crime Stoppers with assistance from more than 70 volunteers hosted 1001 people for it's Sixth Annual Pancakes With Mom". Along with the many pancakes that were served up the volunteers helped serve 180 pound of sausage, 60 gallons of coffee, 11 cases of fresh fruit, 13 gallons of apple sauce, 24 gallons of orange juice, 14 gallons of fruit topping and 400 carnations.

The volunteer corps included Wauwatosa residents, business owners, area students, members of the Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee, Whitman's Boy Scout Troop 111, Underwood's Cub Scout Pack 118, The Wauwatosa Police Reserves and even some family members from as far away as Door County, WI and Rochester, MN.

On behalf of the Wauwatosa Crime Stoppers I want to thank all the volunteers and our guests who made the breakfast an outstanding event. Much needed funds were raised and will be used to reward anonymous tipsters who provide information leading to the arrest of people involved in committing crimes in Wauwatosa.

Recently the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) issued a scam alert relating to to stimulus and tax rebate checks. Please take the time to read the alert.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice are warning consumers about emails and phone calls from scammers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). The IRS does not gather information for rebates by telephone. Nor does it send unsolicited email to taxpayers about tax account matters. Filing a tax return is the only way to apply for a tax refund; there is no separate application form. Similarly, if you get an email out of the blue from someone claiming to be from the IRS that asks you to call a phone number or email back your personal information, don't click any links. Instead forward it to www.phishing@irs.gov and then delete it. Clicking on a link in an unsolicited email carries risks of spyware, pagejacking, and phisisng - threats that can lead to the theft of your identity. The only official IRS Web site is located at www.irs.gov. visit www.OnGuardOnline.gov/phishing for more information about phishing scams.