Graffiti Squad

It was sad to read of the frustration of the so-called Ghost squad of RTD police who diligently work to apprehend the vandals responsible for making a visual mess of so much of Los Angeles (Metro, March 26). Despite some 808 arrests, they see the culprits get off with small fines that have little deterrent value.

The solution seems obvious: Why not put the little dears to work removing graffiti once they are caught? A few days with their artistic hands immersed in paint remover while their friends look on might just serve to dull their creative impulses, to say nothing of the dent it would put in the reported $10 million annual expense for cleaning up the mess. Surely there is nothing novel in a sentence of community service. Why aren’t we doing it?

ROBERT E. GOYETTE

Rolling Hills Estate