Getting your hands on Spray paint in Ireland can sometimes be easier said than done. There are several ways of getting paint in the major cities, if not all of them (apart from kerry obviously lol)
The easiest and quickest way, but not necessaraly the cheapest always way is to go into the nearst city, find the local Skate, Graff, Art, Book and even Sex Shop and see if they have paint. A large number of them will have MTN at least and some of them stock a good varity for both piecing and bombing.
There is some unofficially designated graff shops about the place too eg. South Central (Limerick) or All City "Records" (Dublin) These have pretty much everything you will need to constructively and creativly vandalize any city, They will have racks of paint, shelfs or markers, mops and inks, its a writers dream. The downside is they are so rare and hard to find.
Since this article is about buying paint i wont go into racking, but there is no shortage of BnQ's, Halfords, Car Shops etc. that all stock pretty ok paint for bombing and arent the hardest at all to rack from.
Next up is the under-recognized especially amount the new writers is the Internet, now the downsides are nearly every site wont deliver out side the U.K, or US (rember we fought the cunts to be outside the UK... that now has one downside) but you can still get markers, mops, inks, stickers, pretty much anything but paint as it can explode during delivery from there. But the good news is All Citys Website, You can order paint from it and they deliver it pretty cheap, concidering their paints pretty cheap anyways its definitely worth it to get what you want. Another site is ebay, you can buy Molotow, Mtn, Montana etc.. off ebay and because there small dealers they wont have a problem shipping it some times.
To order online you need a credit card but 3v is one of the greatest things in the last few years, its like a disposable credit card that is pay-as-you go, so there is no debt. Check it out on 3v.ie
.
So now there shouldnt be that excuse anymore that "oh umm theres like no paint in town, lets not bother goin out bombin weekend"
How to Roll a Joint
Rolling Papers
Paper never got anyone high so the aim is always to use as little as possible. Try tearing your papers down to size. Some judicious trimming can also make the joint easier to roll. The wider, squarer types of paper give you more scope for creating tailor made skins of different shapes.
Most people reading this will be well practiced the art of rolling a decent, smokeable joint. However, for those with more thumbs than fingers and a zero rating on the Kudos scale, here are few basic tips
The shape of the finished joint is decided by how you distribute the mix over the papers. Many of the numbers here are cone-shape. Cones tend
Graffiti Wars
THE GREAT GRAFFITI WARS OF THE
LATE 20TH CENTURY
***D R A F T C O P Y***
MISSING: NOTES, CITATIONS, ILLUSTRATIONS
© copyright 1995 SHERRI CAVAN, PH.D.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
94132
ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the distinction between deviance and diversity by focusing on the interrelated complex of rule makers who prohibit graffiti, rule enforcers who attempt to eradicate it and rule breakers who are motivated to make their mark on the environment in spite of the active opposition of others. Each of these social roles is embedded in a subculture that justifies and organizes the activities of its members, creating meaning and morality, motivating and reinforcing behavior, even in the face of failure (to eradicate graffiti) or punishment (for making graffiti).
INTRODUCTION: DEVIANCE & DIVERSITY
In the early years of the 20th century philosophic and scientific ideas about relativity challenged the assumption of a single, fixed perspective. By mid-century these ideas were reflected in sociological theorizing. In this new manner of thinking, a single, unified standard gives way to multiple social realities that coexist and commingle, sometimes in conflict, sometimes in cooperation, sometimes oblivious to one another. The moral absolutes that dominated the pre-modern mind do not disappear, but they are no longer the only conceivable standard of judgment. Besides what appears as the dominant culture are multiple subcultures, each with its own vital agenda of values and goals, standards and sanctions, differentiated by power, influence and style. [FN.]
Relativity emphasizes the parts power and politics play in establishing the dominance of one subculture over others and thereby establishing the agenda of the dominant or official culture, that unique subculture against which all other subcultures are evaluated and subordinated. What is officially regarded as deviation (that category of acts the authorities seek to prohibit and punish) and what is an expression of diversity (any tolerable alternatives) is but a temporary expression of the dialectics of difference----the conflict between the authorized version of social reality and all those other claims. [FN.](SERIAL MURDER, AND CLAIMSMAKING)
Relativity views "social order" as an ongoing, practical accomplishment, a product or by-product of people going about their everyday lives making rules, breaking rules, enforcing rules, and witnessing these moral dramas of deviance from one standard and conformity to another. [FN. Becker, Lemert]
Many topics illustrate the relativity of deviance and conformity and how these practices become institutionalized in the complex of subcultures that, taken collectively, make up society as an entity. I will address the topic of graffiti---those unauthorized words and images that appear in public places.
METHODOLOGY
This paper derives from fifteen years of studying graffiti, among other topics---specifically political and white collar rule breaking. The graffiti project began in l980 as the subject of a qualitative research seminar I was teaching. It continued as a personal exploration in the theory and methods of visual sociology. [FN.] Gradually it became a cross-cultural odyssey. [FN. on the sample]
My research is not funded. However, graffiti is not difficult to observe: it is everywhere. I use a very small camera, a notebook and a pencil to document my observations. I talk to people about graffiti, eliciting their opinions and experiences. I have a growing network of contacts with people in the graffiti world and with people who are active in graffiti eradication. I maintain a copious file of clippings and illustrations that document what is known of the history of graffiti and the ongoing "graffiti war" as it is reflected in my local community, San Francisco, and elsewhere. Friends, colleagues, acquaintances and students, aware of my interest in graffiti, provide me with clippings, pictures, references and stories. I keep current with the research being done by others in this field. (FN: graffiti bibliography) This analysis is based on these sources
THE GRAFFITI WARS
Since the 1980s, authorities in communities throughout America have used the rhetoric of "war" to define the "threat" posed by graffiti and to justify the mobilization of community resources to eradicate it. The monetary cost of these aggressive campaigns is in now in the billions of dollars and it is difficult to calculate how much ink and video tape has been expended in popular stories about the graffiti menace.
Yet by any measure, there is more graffiti now then before graffiti was declared a social problem and war envisioned as the solution. Almost two decades have passed since this war was decreed. Despite the considerable economic and social resources the rule makers have invested, despite the enthusiastic support of these polices by both official and volunteer rule enforcers, despite the continued support of the graffiti eradication program in the press and on television, the war has not been won. Instead, the conflict has been institutionalized.
Subcultures of rule breakers have emerged out of this routinized conflict. The beliefs and practices associated with the "aerosol nation" of youthful graffiti writers have taken form and substance from their conflict with the authorities and the conflict with one another. [FN. Matza, Subterranean values] What was historically an ad hoc activity, motivated by impulse, became organized, with rules governing the behavior and a value system establishing the basis for judgment and reward, differentiated internally into high status muralists and low status taggers, as well as outlaws who "dis" (disrespect) their peers as well as disrespecting the establishment. [FN...]
These ideas and images associated with the graffiti subcultures diffused from big cities to the suburbs and small towns throughout America and abroad. [FN.] The young (mostly) males involved in the subcultures represent every race, every ethnicity, and every social class. The innovative style coming out of these gangs that call themselves "crews" has been established as an identifiable style of art by being featured in mainstream galleries, museums, and art books, along with being the topic of criticism in established art journals. [FN.]
On the other side of the equation, subcultures of anti-graffiti enthusiasts have emerged, providing residents of local communities with an issue to rally around. Schools, churches and neighborhood watch groups, as well as independent good Samaritans, have joined together in collective action to eradicate the menace from their community. In San Francisco, hardly a month goes by without an announcement of a graffiti eradication work party taking place in some part of the city. People meet and sign in, establishing a network of activists who are willing to come out on a cool and foggy Saturday morning to paint out the marks the graffiti artists have painted in. The city provides paint and brushes; local businesses provide coffee, donuts and juice.
In the rhetoric of the ruling class, graffiti symbolizes anarchy, its very presence an unquestioned threat to social order. Graffiti destroys the beauty of the environment and challenges the resolve of the authorities to maintain their aesthetic vision of what public space should look like.[ pictorial examples of the dominant aesthetic]
The anti-graffiti crusaders act in the name of established authority. They make their mark by marking over the anarchy of the rule breakers, eradicating what is "ugly" and "offensive". Despite cursory instructions that "neatness counts", the crusaders use very little technique in their applications, and the paint they are provided rarely matches the background color, although sophisticated computer color matching has been developed and entrepreneurs with a van can match the background paint on the site. Their services are costly, but they eliminate all traces of the multiple layers of meaning expressed by the interaction between the rule breakers and the rule enforcers. Without the services of background color matching it is difficult for the untutored eye to distinguish what is beautiful and what is not; what is anarchy and what is style; why irregular patches of beige, often dripping around the edges, are preferable to elegant calligraphic curlicues in bright colors, carefully applied to express technique by avoiding drips and splatters. (pictorial examples of anti-graffiti whitewashing and what is eradicated)
Like the graffiti movement, the anti-graffiti movement goes beyond the local community. In 1991 The National Graffiti Information Network was established in Long Beach, California. That fall, they held their first extra-local conference in Denver, Colorado. Reinforcing one another's belief in the seriousness of the graffiti problem, participants included city officials, community leaders, and neighborhood volunteers. Entrepreneurs with newly developed products that can be used in the eradication of various types of graffiti were present also. The president of a painting company planning to market a new anti-graffiti coating is quoted as saying, "Business is booming". Participants at the Denver conference discussed the latest technologies for graffiti eradication, the need for stricter laws, better enforcement, and more stringent penalties, along with ideas about prevention programs. [FN article + experience.]
Graffiti artists also have an entrepreneurial side. Unauthorized art in public places can be the beginning of a professional career in the art world, as it was for Keith Haring, who began painting in New York subway stations. However, the fads and fashions of the art world are constantly changing. Whether they come from art school or from the streets, few who begin a career in art make art their profession for long. (FN BECKER, ROSENBAUM)
The career of the dilettante street artist is even shorter than that of the professional artist. Regardless of whether or not they have encounters with the legal system, most leave the scene by their early twenties. There are very few thirty year old graffiti artists. (FN Werthman & Pilavian, police encounters with juveniles)
Still, some like Crayone manage to keep a foot in different worlds, advertising his work in various local papers, earning money for commissioned pieces, and still occasionally getting up with his crew, "Together with Style". I first met him at the big, a fresco graffiti gallery on Market Street. One afternoon I ran into him as he and a crew of two were painting a large "Save The Rainforest" mural on the wall of my corner grocery store. Crayone said the grocers were paying him $300 for the job, which took most of a day, part of a day, and considerable spray paint. My grocers are not connoisseurs of art. Their objective was to inhibit "tagging", and indeed, the wild style mural on the long wall of the grocery and the realistic portrait of Bob Marley on the short wall have remained relatively pristine compared to the walls on either side of them. When the murals are tagged, Crayone returns and touches up the mischief.
MULTIPLE REALITIES
In the museum at Ephesus, Turkey, there are two Greek portrait busts. On each sculpture the nose is broken off and a cross is carved on the forehead. The English guidebook points out these "marks of vandalism" to tell the history of the statutes and the place where they were found. The curators did not remove these pieces from the viewing public because Christian zealots "ruined" what the Greek classicists had in mind when they created these works of art. Instead, the marks are incorporated into the story as part of a series of events that make up the history of these pieces of art and that part of the world.
Similarly, people do not go to the ancient city of Pompeii and say "Look at all that graffiti. This place is a mess. Those people have ruined everything for everyone else. I'm sorry I ever came here." Instead they view the copious graffiti on the walls of that place as a normal feature of the landscape. Guidebooks help tourists decode the popular inscriptions written on every public wall. No distinction is made between the proper and the improper, between what is valuable and what is vandalism. All is history. The frescos represent the history of the elite; the graffiti represents the history of the common people. (FN Tanzzer) In contrast, the current mayor of San Francisco made the eradication of graffiti a cornerstone of his campaign for office, claiming that graffiti is one of the "quality of life offenses" that drive tourists away from the city and therefore cost the community money in terms of unrealized revenue.
Actually, the presence of graffiti may enhance rather than diminish market values in the modern world. Consider the Berlin Wall. For over 40 years, photographers have documented the ever changing graffiti that embellished the west side of the wall, where dissent was still possible. When the wall was demolished as evidence of the reunification of Germany, segments of the wall went to various museums and libraries, as well as private parties. In California, both the Nixon Memorial Library and the Reagan Memorial Library exhibit a slice of the wall, ablaze with graffiti, exhibited as a symbol of the historic era. Ironically, it is the existence of graffiti that makes it obvious that the wall has been installed upside-down in the Nixon Library. There, in the gift shop, visitors can buy considerably smaller chunks of the wall. The pieces with graffiti are priced higher than the unembellished chunks.
The impulse to make a mark on the environment is very ancient. Since prehistoric times people have used the available technology to make a record of themselves, their beliefs and their practices. In fact, ancient painted and carved rocks are critical data for archaeologists in their quest to reconstruct the prehistoric era. (FN LASCAUSU) We do not describe these marks of our ancestors as "destroying nature", even though we use these terms to define the same behavior by our contemporaries. Employing this logic, the national parks service carefully preserves the petroglyphs and rock paintings of the past while they suppress, erase and punish anyone leaving their mark on the landscape today. One is "history", the other is "vandalism."
These examples suggest that whether making a mark on the environment is a characteristic expression of our species---that is "history"---or whether it is a kind of perversity---that is "vandalism"---is relative. It depends on who is making what marks in what social and historical context and with what objectives, as well as who is passing judgment on this activity and why. If we see "graffiti" and think "dirty, ugly, meaningless, visual pollution, wrong, destructive, bad" we express a socialized point of view. The truth of these judgments is not some absolute reality that is "natural and obvious" but instead, truth is a point of view that is learned from and reinforced by a variety of others: our peers, our parents, the authorities, the media taking the role of the "generalized other". [FN. social learning theories]
Critically important to the social construction of meaning are people in positions of power and authority, the rule makers. They form, inform and reinforce the perceptions and judgments of an authorized social reality and they enforce this ideal by various methods of reward and punishment.
What makes graffiti wrong is the claim that "public" space should represent onlythe interests of the propertied class. This unspoken assumption is the premise from which contemporary graffiti is defined as ugly, meaningless, dirty, destructive and the wholesale eradication of graffiti is viewed as a socially responsible act. Unlike the rule makers at the museums in Ephesus and Pompeii, American lawmakers do not see the marks on the walls of the city as representing a part of history, speaking to the lives of powerless and marginal people. Rather, in defense of their singular claim to public space, the authorities have undertaken a broad range of punitive actions. In California, as one example, the graffiti menace serves as the justification for legislation restraining trade by prohibiting the sale of spray paint and broad tipped ink markers to people under the age of 18. In response, some young people identify themselves as the "aerosol nation". Their goal is to question the rules of authority by doing art wherever and whenever they can, while other youth tag over their peers expressions and rule enforcers paint over them both.
In various communities throughout America local authorities have
- installed barbed wire around popular graffiti sites
- put guard dogs in train yards
- installed hidden video cameras to document the identities of offenders
- created complex entrapment programs to lure graffiti writers into nonexistent "documentary films"
- proposed caning or paddling offenders
- established laws calling for fines, community service incarceration, loss of driver's license
- proposed punishing the parents along with punishing the actual offenders
- enacted laws punishing merchants if they do not eradicate the marks on their buildings, lest their indifference give the appearance of support to the prohibited activity.
Local authorities believe these responses are appropriate punishments for breaking their rules about who has the right to express themselves where.
By using their power and influence to legislate against the practice of graffiti, civic authorities transform a very ordinary and ancient form of behavior into a crime. Those who practice graffiti become rule breakers---"criminals"---while community resources from public sentiment to cash allocations are mobilized in defense of the authorized version of public space.
Despite all of the propaganda, prohibitions and punishments associated with contemporary graffiti, representatives of the dominant culture exploit the character and style of graffiti when it is profitable to them to do so. Film makers who want to give an ethnic or class illusion to a neighborhood cover the walls with imitations of the graffiti that the city authorities are trying desperately to eradicate (cf. "Sister Act"). In a recent advertising campaign, the billboards for an automobile incorporated what looks like graffiti sprayed on the ad but is actually part of the authorized text. The National Graffiti Information Network protested Chrysler's glorification of crime. Nonetheless, those who make the rules that prohibit graffiti by defining it as "bad" recognize a category of "good graffiti" as a function of who is writing what where when and why. During the 1990 Gulf War, the al-Mutla barrage killed thousands of Iraqi servicemen and civilians. A newspaper account describes the copious graffiti American troops left on the enemy equipment destroyed at this gravesite. In his State of the Union address the following year, President George Bush quoted some of this "good" graffiti as testimony to the courageous and independent sprit of American youth serving in the interests of their country. [FN.]
These authorized distinctions between "good graffiti" and "bad graffiti" suggest that the "graffiti problem" is about constraints on freedom of expression. Graffiti gives voice to unusual, unpopular, unacceptable, inaccessible ideas, expressing them in unorthodox and unauthorized places. When graffiti is forbidden by the authorities, it is a crime.
As a social practice, it is most frequently (but not exclusively) done by powerless, marginal people, people without social and/or economic resources, people without property rights. (FN) Those who own space have few restraints on what they can express. Although the freedom of expression of the propertied classes has been tested on more than one occasion by neighbors protesting one another's taste in art and/or politics, American courts have generally sided with the right of the individual to self-expression. For example, when the case of "too many Christmas lights" was brought before the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas upheld the lower courts ruling that the offender reduce his Christmas display (Dec., 1994). The accused was not prohibited from embellishing his property, only admonished to keep that expression "within limits". People without property rights find themselves in a very different situation. Having no economic assets there is no place they can express themselves freely. Rather than being appreciated for their creative spirit and the colorful contribution they make to the urban landscape, they are introduced to law breaking by those who criminalize their behavior.
BUT WHAT IF EVERYONE DID THAT?
What would happen if graffiti were not criminalized? Would everyone rush to the walls with magic marker and spray paint? Not necessarily. The more involved people are in the everyday management of their own lives, the more involved they feel in the affairs of their community and the more varied ways they have to express themselves, the less likely they are to do graffiti. One way to inhibit graffiti is to provide meaningful participation in a richly textured social life to the poor as well as the rich, the young as well as the mature, although such a proposal is clearly neo-utopian thinking.
Besides, marginality is always relative and other reasons motivate graffiti in addition to expressing discontent or striving for status in an adolescent peer group. (FN REVIEW OF MOTIVES) It is unlikely that the impulse to make a mark and send a message will ever be eliminated. Even the National Graffiti Information Network acknowledges that the best they can hope for is "containment".
What would be the consequence if graffiti were not prohibited but seen instead as diversity, as modern petroglyphs or urban folk art? A different aesthetic. Public space would appear different, although perhaps not much different. Those who are seriously involved in the graffiti subculture---and therefore those who are motivated to do the most graffiti---act with very little regard for the punitive consequences of their actions now. If there were no punitive consequences, there would not necessarily be more graffiti than there is today.
Eliminating the risk and high stakes associated with getting caught diminishes the thrill associated with breaking the rules of the dominant culture and therefore makes graffiti less desirable to some, especially young males looking for a way to test their manhood individually and to bond with others collectively. So it is very possible that without criminalization there would be less graffiti than there is now, less restraint yielding less motivation to resist.
Even if there were no change in the amount of graffiti, there is another socialized way of seeing. Outdoor "graffiti galleries" can be examples of a different aesthetic of public space. They are "folk art" in the literal definition of the term: spontaneous expressions of untutored artists. (FN--, PLUS LEBFERVE) Public space embellished with multiple layers of colorful graffiti looks different from space that exhibits the authorized aesthetic of unadorned gray or beige surfaces. But outside of a cultural system of aesthetic values, no thing is inherently beautiful nor inherently ugly. By broadening our values, we encompass rather than exclude alternative versions of beauty and joy.
SO WHY BOTHER? WHY MORE PROHIBITIONS AND MORE SEVERE PUNISHMENTS?
Why bother to legislate against graffiti and propose more and more severe punishments for an activity as insignificant as leaving a bright colored mark on the public walls of the city as testimony of the authors' mortal existence?
We must understand that the graffiti wars are not just about conflicting definitions of pleasure and aesthetics. They are also about displaying power and displacing attention. Even if the authorities were to acknowledge that graffiti expresses a different aesthetic, they would still demand the right to control what the city looks like, for that is what power and influence are about. Establishing the canon for what is beautiful and what is ugly is one of the ways power and influence are displayed. Punishing the behavior of others is another way power and influence are displayed.
In addition to asserting their power and extending their influence, those in positions of authority have a vested interest in perpetuating the conflict. (a.) It reinforces the war metaphor; (b.) It fulfills the need for a scapegoat; (c.) it mobilizes citizen involvement with and allegiance to authorized objectives.
THE "WAR METAPHOR"
The war metaphor is a way of seeing that views all conflict as expressions of victory and defeat, winning and losing, total success or contemptible failure. The war metaphor leaves no room to see conflict as a tragic misunderstanding, or as a comedy of errors, or as a cautionary message. Rather, in this gothic vision of the world, no conflict is too small or too insignificant to symbolize war. Consider some of the ordinary headlines in my local newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner:
Mortgage lenders wage telephone war (3/22/93)
5-yar bidding war for Continental getting hotter (10/7/92)
Task force wars on toxics (9/20/86
Scientists say U.S. is losing war on cancer (2/5/92)
"Preventing playground warfare" ( 11/5/92)
"Airline fare wars" (2/14/93)
"Peace in our Park as dahlia war ends" (9/4/93)
"US is winning chip war vs. Japan" (4/7/92)
"Success in S.F war on graffiti" (7/20/86)
"S.F. losing war on graffiti" (6/30/87)
This ubiquitous metaphor---and its derivatives such as enemies, aggression, killing and destruction---is found at every level of the popular culture. As a single example, consider the advertising copy for a video game, targeted for both youthful and mature consumers:
[T]he Super New. Street Fighter II, the hottest arcade ...game around is here...purchase the game with only one objective---to win!
The war metaphor enflames the passions with fear---whether virtual or real---and patriotism---whether symbolic or emotional. The war metaphor polarizes the world into the implacable enemy, who plays by no known rules, on one side and on the other, the embattled forces of virtue, pushed to extremes in self-defense . (FN 20th c.)
TECHNIQUES OF DISPLACEMENT
The drug wars, the wars against the poor and the homeless, the wars against street crime, litter, and environmental degradation, the great graffiti wars of the late 20th century are all wars for distraction. They mobilize community sentiment against a powerless, named enemy while the passions they engender direct attention away from other events. The "enemy" is a scapegoat, given the ritual role of both evoking and diffusing strong sentiments, feelings, emotions.
In part. these domestic wars of distraction serve as substitutes for more ambitious wars. The end of the Cold War and the beginning of the domestic wars are found in close historic proximity. Waged with enthusiasm on both sides of the globe, from the American perspective, the cold war cast our former ally---the Soviet Union---in the role of our nemesis. In the name of national defense, civil rights were curtailed and military spending expanded. The voices of youthful dissent that were raised in the 1960s reopened the debate about "freedom of expression". The defeat of American military forces in Viet Nam in the 1970s challenged the unquestioned superiority of American military intervention. By the 1980s, the Cold War came to a symbolic end as our enemy gave up its evil ways, converted to capitalism, and reentered global society.
If we examine these domestic wars in their historic context we see that they are declared and waged through the 1980s, as though to substitute for the loss of more grandiose conflicts.
However, they served other interests as well. The 1980s was also a period when the crime rate of the ruling class was rising dramatically.[FN.] During this time, stories about the graffiti menace are found on page one of the newspaper while stories about white collar crimes appear in the business section or buried on a back page with the obituaries. Where "war" is the metaphor used to describe the conflict between the authorities and powerless people, "scandal" is the metaphor used to refer to rule breaking by the rich and the powerful. While community sentiment is actively mobilized against youthful graffiti artists, white collar criminals who raided the savings and loan industry are subsidized by legislative bail-outs that passively mobilize the taxpaying public in defense of ruling class rule breaking. In l990, Fortune Magazine listed 282 men and 49 women who had been found guilty of one or more felonies involving fraud (of over $100,000 for each count) in conjunction with the failure of the American Saving and Loan institutions in the l980s. Though the cost to tax payers for repaying the insured depositions may amount to more than a trillion dollars, these people received an average sentence of 3.5 years, and spent even less time in prison. The editors of Fortune write, "Today's S&L fraud dwarfs every previous carnival of white-collar crime in America." (p.92: Nov. 5, l990)
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
In addition to displacing attention away from elite rule breaking, wars waged against powerless people give ordinary citizens an opportunity to "do good" by enforcing authorized rules. It empowers them---or at least it gives them the impression of power.
My neighbors established an adopt-a-sign-or-a-wall anti-graffiti policy in our small district, each pledging to keep their site free of graffiti by applying paint provided by the city and stored in the garage of a helpful neighbor. Since I declined to engage in these anti-graffiti activities, a neighbor from around the corner took over the responsibility for the sign in front of my house as well as patroling his own sign. These efforts brought people in the neighborhood together with a serious purpose. The feelings of power experienced from actively defending their neighborhood against the forces of chaos led someone to suggest that we also eradicate the myriad of notices that get posted on the utility poles that transverse the neighborhood, advertising lost cats, a man with a van, spiritualists and heavy metal bands. I was more successful getting my neighbors to recognize this as a freedom of speech issue. So instead of making it a neighborhood policy, they invoked the principle of lazier faire: people who wanted to remove notices from the utility poles could do so and others could leave them. Next the topic of pigeons came up---how we could get rid of these "filthy creatures". My neighbors' experience with graffiti-eradication was leading them to dreams of increasing control over the public spaces of our neighborhood.
In contrast, the complexity, the remoteness, and the considerable power and influence of political and white collar criminals does not invite ordinary people to be active participants in law enforcement. The complexity of the activity involved in elite rule breaking creates a barrier to easy comprehension. The institutions of information and influence do little to enlighten the public about the crimes of the ruling class, since the owners of these agencies have membership in that class and may themselves be active participants in either the crimes or the cover-ups, or both. Ordinary people are removed from the scenes of elite deviance; they learn about the nature, the extent, the scope and the consequences of elite rule breaking only when the institutions of secrecy break down. (FN examples). The FBI Uniform Crime Reports represent the basis of all public statistics about "crime in America". It addresses only interpersonal crime, not institutional assaults. White collar crime is neither statistically traced nor tallied, so there is no official record of its extent, whether it is decreasing or whether it is increasing, rates of recidivism, the dollar cost to society, etc..
Segregated from the sites of power and influence, ordinary people generally learn about elite deviance as theater, as the media play out the dramatic scandal of ruling class rule breaking in headlines, television coverage and radio talk shows. The social, economic and political success of former while collar felons minimize their perceived threat to society. Consider a few of the more publicized careers: Convicted of burglary for political objectives, G. Gordon Liddy spent 52 months in prison. Upon his release he took to the lecture circuit with his former "enemy, Timothy Leary, had a few bit parts in Hollywood movies, and now is from convicted political burglar to national radio talk show host on the air four hours a day, five days a week. Convicted on numerous counts of fraud and manipulation of stock and bond markets, Michael Milken went from prison to the lecture halls the U.C.L.A. School of Business. Public outcry forced his resignation, but the fact that he was invited as an inspirational speaker is telling in and of itself. A few years earlier, his mentor, Ivan Boesky, addressed the graduating class at the UC. Berkeley, telling them, "Greed is good." Like his prodigy, Boesky also spent time in federal prison, emerging from his sentence tanned, rested and ready to resume his place in the ruling class. Consider Oliver North. Accused of masterminding a complex extra-legal financing of Latin American insurrection forces in defiance of congressional order, his convictions on three felony counts, including lying to congress, were overturned on appeal. After running a close but unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate from Virginia, he was awarded his own radio talk show in the Washington DC. area. Like Liddy, North is in an especially powerful position, able to influence large numbers of people that their vision is right.
CONCLUSIONS
How we as observers feel about graffiti is a function of whose side of the conflict we are on---whose values we share or do not share, whose status we respect, whose situation we empathize with----the authorities who make the rules, the people who enforce them, or those who break them. [FN. Gouldner] During the second world war, inmates in German concentration camps left copious graffiti wherever they dared, in direct defiance of the rules of the Nazi authorities who prohibited and severely punished such expressions. Today, most people see those defiant acts of the inmates as heroic, they would understand the vision that graffiti expresses is an authentic and poignant voice of oppressed people facing genocide.
Placed in their historic context, the great graffiti wars of the late 20th century illustrate the relativity of judgments of deviance and diversity, and how the dynamic interaction between the participants of different subcultures, each with their own agenda and resources, produce the perceived reality of these conflicts.
At least two version of the 1980s exist. The version from the top is one of technological and economic growth. The version from the bottom is one of social and economic oppression. By the 1980s, the last vestiges of the social and economic programs that expressed the idealism of the 1960s had atrophied, while deregulation of a variety of industries, especially banking, severely effected the flow of cash through the society. Profiteering was the rule in financial transactions. Technological innovations replacing human labor with automated production and service systems combined with corporate management practices of "downsizing" the workforce to protect and enhance profits. As a result, great wealth was created for some, along with great poverty for many.
Beneath the surface of technological progress and economic success was and still is a massive sea of discontent. Historic records document the fact that urban walls are always coopted by the disenfranchised to express their discontent. (FN) But in the historic context of the 1980s, local authorities overreacted to this expression. Rule makers were quick to define graffiti as a challenge to their authority. There was little resistance to criminalizing the behavior. In response to the authorities, subcultures emerged, motivating more and more elaborate expressions of graffiti. The authorities escalated their sanctions and the sub-cultures became more entrenched. As the rule breaking subculture grew, anti-graffiti subcultures emerged. At an graffiti eradication work party, I overhead someone say that the graffiti artists had also read the announcements about the graffiti-eradication workday. They came out the night before and added considerably more graffiti around the school, providing more work for their graffiti foes. Like a video game, the participants are locked into a version of Street Fighter II, parents against children, authorities against outsiders, the powerful against the powerless, each the nemesis of the other.
Between the first version of this paper and the last, a youthful tagger has been shot and killed by an armed citizen intent on protecting public property from enemy attack. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to file murder charges against the gunman; the aunt of the slain 18 year old threatens revenge. (Chron 2/8/95, p. D16; Examiner, 2/24/95 pA7) The conflict continues to escalate.
Can a society that envisions war as the ultimate metaphor, enshrines hierarchy while preaching democracy, and practices the politics of exclusion rather than inclusion ever acknowledge writing on the walls as an ancient and common practice, as expressive of our humanity as making those walls gray and imposing? Today's graffiti challenges the authorized vision of social reality. But these aerosol revolutionaries are powerless and young. They fit the criteria for an ideal scapegoat better than the ideal of a cultural liberator. Even though their innovative, visionary styles are routinely coopted, commodified, and capitalized on, it is unlikely their aesthetic visions will be granted legitimacy in the 21st century, if such a thing is possible at all.
Author: Sherri Cavan scavan@sfsu.edu
Cavan, Sherri, "The Great Graffiti Wars of the Late 20th Century"
Paper presented at the Pacific Sociological Association, 1995
Ripped from Graffiti.org - Great Article
Racking Online
I sent this to elmers.com just to see if it worked, and it did. They are sending me a new marker soon. I know that its just one, crappy marker, but if this worked, it should work on other sites too.
P.S. my name isn't James Timberman
From me:
Hello, my name is James Timberman, and I recently purchased a Painters Marker from the local Walmart for a home project to decorate a flower pot.
When I had gotten home and opened the marker, I proceeded to fill the nib
with paint, when all of the paint in the marker bled through the tip and made a big mess. I have bought your products before, and I like them very
much. I would prefer you send me a new product instead of a refund. Thank you.
From them:
If you will please reply to this e-mail with your full address, I will be happy to send you a new Painter. Please also let me know what color and what tip size(fine,medium, ultra-fine). Thank you.
P.S. my name isn't James Timberman
From me:
Hello, my name is James Timberman, and I recently purchased a Painters Marker from the local Walmart for a home project to decorate a flower pot.
When I had gotten home and opened the marker, I proceeded to fill the nib
with paint, when all of the paint in the marker bled through the tip and made a big mess. I have bought your products before, and I like them very
much. I would prefer you send me a new product instead of a refund. Thank you.
From them:
If you will please reply to this e-mail with your full address, I will be happy to send you a new Painter. Please also let me know what color and what tip size(fine,medium, ultra-fine). Thank you.
Shoplifting Techniques
Some common techniques in the ancient art of retail theivery.
"Accidental" stealing
In "Accidental" stealing, a thief takes his place in the queue with the items he intends to steal, and pays for only one of those items while holding what he intends to steal in full view to cause confusion (or places said items into his pockets), while avoiding suspicion due to his apparent intention of payment. In the unlikely event of being caught, the thief can simply pass off the attempt at stealing as accidental. This method is also referred to as "left handing," a reference to the stolen item being held in the left hand while payment is made with the right.
Baby stroller boxes
This scam involves the use of baby stroller boxes, which tend to be quite large in size. A would-be shoplifter removes the stroller from the box and proceeds to conceal a large amount of merchandise inside. The would-be shoplifter then reseals the box and takes it to a checkout aisle, where he pays the purchase price for the stroller. If the scam is successful the would-be shoplifter walks out of the retailer with concealed merchandise still inside the stroller box.
Bagging, Simple
The '''Simple Bagging''' Tactic is when a would be shoplifter bags the item in a bag that they have brought into the store (ex. purse or shopping bag from another store). This generally done while no one is watching.
Bag switching
Bag switching methods are generally attempted by a group of two shoplifters. Typically the first shoplifter will have a large bag and gather a large amount of merchandise quickly to get the attention of a Loss Prevention Investigator. Once the first shoplifter knows that he is being followed he will conceal the merchandise into the bag. The first shoplifter will then switch his bag with the second shoplifter, who usually has a matching bag that is already filled with items that don’t belong to the retailer. Often the Loss Prevention Investigator will miss the switch and arrest the first shoplifter. Subsequently, the first shoplifter may claim false arrest and receive a gift card from the retailer.
Barcode counterfeiting
In barcode counterfeiting the shoplifter will bring in pre-made barcodes from low value items. They are then applied over the barcodes on higher value items. This allows the shoplifter to go through the check out process, make a payment, have any secruity tags deactivated by the clerk and walk out without any suspicious behavior. The shoplifter might be working with the check out clerk to ensure the incorrect prices are not noticed.
Barcode Switching
This is when a shoplifter switches the tags/barcodes between to pieces of merchandise most likely putting the cheaper tag on the product they wish to obtain
Booster boxes (bag)
A booster box is a device that allows a would be shoplifter to conceal a large quantity of merchandise on his person. These boxes are lined with metal or some other substance to prevent security tags from setting off the security gates at the exit. Typically professional shoplifters of large girth most commonly attempt this scam. The use of booster boxes is most prevalent at clothing retailers due to the fact that clothing merchandise can be easily molded to fit inside the box. Some professional shoplifters have been known in the past to attempt to use booster boxes to conceal electronics and DVDs.
Coupon returns
One of the more common scams involves returning items that were paid for partially with coupons. Some stores, including Target, refund the entire item amount, including the amount discounted by coupons. Shoplifters involved in this scam often shop at multiple stores, and have family members return items so that no suspicion is aroused.
Defective software scam
A person buys a piece of software from a computer store, exits, opens software, and records serial number/CD key for single license of the software purchased. After at least a few hours the same person re-enters the store he bought the software at and complains to customer service that the installation disc is defective. Most computer store policies allow same-item exchange for opened computer software, so person is given a different copy of the same software. The scammer now has two licenses after only paying for one. A more convincing variation includes intentionally nicking the top layer of installation CD/DVD, rendering the discs actually defective before exchanging it.
Double cart
Two shoplifters are usually involved with this scam. They fill two carts with goods and approach the checkout. They load the checkout with the high value goods first. The cashier scans the items and removes the security tags. One of the shoplifters bags the items and places them back into the now empty first trolley. As the second trolley is being scanned the first shoplifter leaves with the first trolley while the second shoplifter stays at the checkout. The remaining goods are scanned and the cashier awaits payment. The second shoplifter puts on an act of a forgotten wallet. This gives the first shoplifter time to load the goods into a vehicle. The second shoplifter then makes an excuse to go and get her wallet, and leaves the remaining goods at the checkout. She then leaves the store and they escape with the high value goods.
Fake return
Sometimes shoplifters will actually gather an item from the selling floor and try to receive money for it without a receipt at the return station. Although this method is not as fool proof as the receipt matching method, it is very effective particularly when done to an inexperienced cashier. Usually the shoplifter will start complaining to the cashier about his inability to return the merchandise. Typically the shoplifter will state that he lost his receipt or threaten the cashier by stating that he wants to talk to the employee's supervisor. To avoid confrontation the cashier will ring up the return and give the shoplifter the value of the merchandise. (See refund theft.)
False alarm scam
The shoplifter grabs something with a tag on it, puts it into someone else's bag, and waits for him to walk out. As soon as the alarm goes off the shoplifter walks out with whatever he's stolen without being stopped.
Fitting room bagging
Typically this scam is seen in large clothing retailers. This scam generally preys upon the common Loss Prevention policy of prohibiting the apprehension of shoplifters when concealment is not actually seen by an investigator. The shoplifter enters a retail establishment with a large bag, and then selects a large amount of merchandise and takes it to a fitting room. Once inside, the shoplifter conceals the merchandise into the bag out of sight of store employees and store investigators.
This technique is very effective due to the fact that most department stores do not supervise the dressing room (they do not check the amount of clothes a person has before and after using a dressing room). Also, because it is common to leave clothes in the dressing room that one does not wish to purchase, entering a dressing room with clothing and exiting with none will arouse no suspicion.
Gift card cloning
In this scam, a normal store gift card with no value attached is stolen from a store. The shoplifter then clones the magnetic strip on the back of the gift card and makes a copy or copies of it. The original gift card is then returned to the store by the shoplifter. The gift card is activated once purchased by another customer, and the dollar amount applied to the legitimate gift card is passed to all the cloned gift cards.
Grab and run
A common shoplifting technique is known by the Loss Prevention community as a "grab and run." Simply put, a shoplifter enters a retail establishment usually with prior knowledge of what he is looking for. The shoplifter moves very quickly toward the merchandise he or she wishes to steal. Once the shoplifter has found the merchandise, he or she proceeds toward the nearest store exit, usually while running. Due to the short amount of time that the shoplifter is inside the store, persons who attempt this scam are seldom caught or, in some cases, even detected.
Less common is for a group of people to rush into a store, grab as much merchandise as possible, and then rush out. The speed at which this happens as well as the large number of people involved make this approach difficult to stop.
Metal-lined clothing or containers
Metal-lined sacks, containers, or clothing (such as aluminum foil-lined undergarments) allow a would-be shoplifter to shield the RFID tags attached to merchandise concealed on his person from the scanners at the door of a store (see Faraday cage). 2001 Colorado House Bill 01-1221 made it a misdemeanor to possess, use, or know about and fail to report others who possess RFID shielding devices with intent to foil anti-shoplifting devices.
Milkshake subterfuge
A less common shoplifting technique used for smaller high-dollar items is the milkshake subterfuge. A milkshake is purchased by the shoplifter and taken into the store. The shoplifter proceeds to drop small heavy items like jewelry into the milkshake. On leaving the store her milkshake is unlikely to be searched. Shoplifters using this method must be wary of drinking too much of their milkshake or the items will be revealed in the bottom of their cup.
Opening the item
This is a very simple form of shoplifting that has been used for years. The shoplifter gets a small valuable item, quickly puts it in a pocket, so that CCTV cameras and store staff don't notice. Then the shoplifter goes to the public toilet, opens up the item, and flushes wrapping down the toilet. The shoplifter is sure to unwrap the item so that alarms will not go off when he or she leaves. After finishing this, the shoplifter simply walks out with it in a pocket. To combat this, many stores have policies barring unpaid merchandise from being taken into restroom facilities.
Alternatively, with DVDs or other disc type merchandise, the shoplifter picks up the item and walks away with the look of wishing to buy additional merchandise. In another area of the store, the shoplifter very precisely cuts a slit in the cellophane wrapping on the side the case opens on. Using a plastic knife (most commonly, but can be anything rigid and flat that will do little damage to the disc, such as a popsicle stick) the shoplifter pops the disc off of the internal clasp and slides the DVD out from within the case. They then leave the item's case somewhere in the store and exit with the disc hidden. Often this is not discovered until the item is purchased and opened legally.
Another smaller value version of this method is usually used in a grocery store. The shoplifter walks up to an item that they could eat or drink while browsing and does so. An empty can be discarded on any shelf in the store (stores usually do not provide a trash can so no forgetful consumer throws away what they should be purchasing). Even if the shoplifter is not finished with the item, by the time they approach the check out counter the cashier will sometimes think they came in the store with it.
Out the wrong door
This method requires a common outside door with two diverging doors from the vestibule: one for an entrance (which is not usually supervised) and one for an exit. Two people enter the store. One person retrieves merchandise from the selling floor. When this person is ready to leave the store, he waits at the entrance door. The other person walks around to the exit, walks into the vestibule and activates the entrance door on the way out, and the person with the merchandise also leaves. Sometimes the second person will just distract the cashiers while the person with the merchandise waits for some unknowing customer to enter the store and activate the entrance door.
Another variation is to exit through a fire door. Although these are alarmed, by the time staff respond, the shoplifter will be long gone. Many stores now have fire exit doors that operate with a delay - the alarm is set off several seconds before the door can be opened.
Power failure
In the event of a power failure where all lighting and CCTV goes out, the shoplifter quickly grabs as much merchandise as possible and calmly leaves the establishment before power is restored.
Razor Finger
This technique involves using a razor blade to remove or destroy security tags on merchandise. The razor blade is taped onto the fingers with medical tape to give the appearance of an injury. The blade is then used to cut off or destroy the security tags. This technique was used in the book ''Evasion''.
Receipt matching
The receipt matching scam involves using receipts to match merchandise codes from the receipt to items found in a store. Most retailers use company specific merchandise codes on their merchandise so store personnel can identify the location more quickly and efficiently. Additionally the merchandise is used to verify merchandise that was purchased at a particular retailer during a return. This information is printed onto the receipts of purchased merchandise.
Typically shoplifters will search either retailer's parking lot or trashcans looking for receipts that have a high dollar item on it. The shoplifter then enters the store and compares the code on the receipt to the codes printed on the merchandise in the store. Once the shoplifter finds a match he will take the merchandise to the return area and receive money for it. Typically, to avoid detection, shoplifters will use a piece of paper with the merchandise code they are looking for written on it.
Another variation is to purchase the target item, then leave the store, and send a friend back in with the receipt to obtain the same item. The friend can either return the item right then, or leave the store with a second target item.
Receipt passing
A person walks into a retail store and buys a high-value item, such as an iPod. On the way out he gives the receipt to a friend who enters the store, receipt in hand, picks up the same high-value item and a low-value accessory, at the checkout he shows the receipt to the cashier explaining he already bought the item, but walked back to buy the accessory. The accessory is then purchased, and thus the thieves get two for the price of one. This method is combated by locked merchandise.
Rope and fenceline
In large retail stores such as Home Depot and Walmart that have Garden areas where there is no ceiling, two shoplifters will attempt to steal merchandise. One shoplifter will wait outside, while the shoplifter inside will take a cart full of merchandise (such as drills or sawblades) to the garden center. The shoplifter inside will then tie the merchandise to the rope, and throw the rope over the fenceline, and the shoplifter waiting on the other side will untie it and take it.
Self-checkout scam
At some larger retailers, such as Wal-Mart, customers have the option of using self-checkout lanes, in which customers do not interact with employees at all when making purchases but check themselves out at a computer. Customers are expected to scan the items that they wish to purchase, insert payment for the scanned items, then bag the items and leave the store. Shoplifters have been known to purchase small items with these machines, and place additional items in their bags without paying for them. In some grocery stores with salad bars, thieves can find the UPC for a small salad and place a pack of cigarettes on the weighted scanner, type the UPC for a salad, and get away with a cheaper pack of cigarettes. Many shoplifters intentionally act slightly confused when using these machines, and act as if they are attempting to scan the item which they wish to steal, so that, if confronted, they can claim that they took the additional items by mistake.
NOTE: The majority of these self check out machines have scales under the shopping bags (where you place the item after scanning). The scale checks that the amount of items in the bag weighs the same that is scanned. If the weight is off, generally, the supervising attendant will be signaled to come to the station for assistance.
Shoe-switching
This scam involves footwear at major shoe stores or department stores. The shoplifter starts with finding the intended shoes to steal and when ready, asks the store sales associate to retrieve the correct sizes from the back stockroom. Once the shoes are brought out, the shoplifter will try on the shoe and pretend wrong sizing or that the shoe is uncomfortable. They ask for a new size and state that they will do a size comparison in which the shoes being worn are then left with the shoplifter. Once the store associate is sent back to the stockroom to retrieve the 2nd size, the shoplifter simply walks out with the new pair of shoes leaving the old pair in the box. Store associates assume that they must have changed their mind and discoveries are usually made when the same pair of shoes are summoned by a new customer. If seen by other store associates or door/greeting associates, the shoplifter explains that wearing the shoe immediately is preferred.
Shoe-switching (Alternative)
This scam involves stores that allow customers free access to shoeboxes (the customer does not have to ask an attendant to retrieve shoes). The shoplifter walks in with a pair of old shoes and replaces the new shoes in the box with those. Any security alarm tags on the new shoes are discarded. The shoplifter walks out wearing the new shoes while leaving the old shoes behind.
Shoe Box Switching
A shoplifter walks into a shoe store and finds an expensive pair of shoes. The shoplifter wears the expensive shoes. Old shoes in hand, the shoplifter finds a cheap shoe box and places his old shoes in it. At the cash register, the cashier looks inside the shoe box and ask, "Are you wearing the shoes right now?" The shoplifter replies, "Yes, I am wearing the shoes right now." The cashier scans the box and the shoplifter leaves the premises with expensive shoes but having paid for a cheaper pair. This works in stores with accessible shoe boxes, such as warehouses like Academy Sports and Outdoors.
Shopping cart magic
Shopping cart tricks are often disregarded by Loss Prevention personnel. Typically, older or professional shoplifters usually attempt this scam. The scam works in the following way: when the shoplifter first enters the store, they locate an empty shopping cart. The shoplifter finds the item they are looking for and typically place on the bottom or under the baby seat. The shoplifter then continues to gather a small dollar amount of merchandise and places it in the shopping cart. The shoplifter then brings the shopping cart to register and removes all the merchandise with the exception of the item they wish to steal. If the cashier is not paying attention the shoplifter will usually be able to get the merchandise past them without much effort. After paying for the smaller dollar items the shoplifter leaves the store and successfully pulls off the scam. The most prevalent method used to combat this scam is the use of door personnel who are trained to ask for receipts for high dollar and un-bagged merchandise; however, the shoplifter is under no legal obligation to comply with this.
Shopping cart passing
Shopping cart passing is usually attempted by a two-person group of shoplifters. The first shoplifter will gather the desired merchandise into a shopping cart and take it to the register. The cashier will then ring up all the merchandise and place it in bags. Once the total is rung up, the first shoplifter states that they forgot their wallet in their car. The first shoplifter will then exit the store and most cashiers will put the shopping cart off to the side and resume ringing up customers. At this point, the second shoplifter moves in and grabs the cart and walks out of the store with the stolen merchandise in bags.
Wal-Mart TV theft
A shoplifter fills a cart with about two weeks' worth of groceries and a DVD and pays for them at the register. In the meantime an accomplice approaches the store's door with a TV. The two meet up at the doors and pass through simultaneously, with the TV on the far side of the associate/greeter. As they pass through the doors the TV will set off the alarm. When the greeter asks the shoplifter carrying groceries to show his receipt, he claims that the DVD in the cart set off the alarm. The person carrying the TV will be outside waiting for the person with the grocery cart at the getaway vehicle. They quickly flee. The scam is said to work best with LCD TVs under 32".
Walk out technique
The walk out technique is the process of browsing the store, collecting the target item(s), and upon completion, simply walking out of the store with item(s) in hand. This seemingly impractical idea is can potentially be very effective if the shoplifter's appearance and attitude are not of a suspicious nature. This tactic is usually limited to small amounts of clothing and is generally only done in large department stores that have multiple entrances.
Walk out technique (Alternative)
In the alternative walk out technique, the shoplifter walks casually up to the item that he wants, takes it, then walks to the doors. Once the shoplifter gets there, he simply lifts the item over top of the scanners. The shoplifter may also re-use a bag from the same store to put the item into.
"Accidental" stealing
In "Accidental" stealing, a thief takes his place in the queue with the items he intends to steal, and pays for only one of those items while holding what he intends to steal in full view to cause confusion (or places said items into his pockets), while avoiding suspicion due to his apparent intention of payment. In the unlikely event of being caught, the thief can simply pass off the attempt at stealing as accidental. This method is also referred to as "left handing," a reference to the stolen item being held in the left hand while payment is made with the right.
Baby stroller boxes
This scam involves the use of baby stroller boxes, which tend to be quite large in size. A would-be shoplifter removes the stroller from the box and proceeds to conceal a large amount of merchandise inside. The would-be shoplifter then reseals the box and takes it to a checkout aisle, where he pays the purchase price for the stroller. If the scam is successful the would-be shoplifter walks out of the retailer with concealed merchandise still inside the stroller box.
Bagging, Simple
The '''Simple Bagging''' Tactic is when a would be shoplifter bags the item in a bag that they have brought into the store (ex. purse or shopping bag from another store). This generally done while no one is watching.
Bag switching
Bag switching methods are generally attempted by a group of two shoplifters. Typically the first shoplifter will have a large bag and gather a large amount of merchandise quickly to get the attention of a Loss Prevention Investigator. Once the first shoplifter knows that he is being followed he will conceal the merchandise into the bag. The first shoplifter will then switch his bag with the second shoplifter, who usually has a matching bag that is already filled with items that don’t belong to the retailer. Often the Loss Prevention Investigator will miss the switch and arrest the first shoplifter. Subsequently, the first shoplifter may claim false arrest and receive a gift card from the retailer.
Barcode counterfeiting
In barcode counterfeiting the shoplifter will bring in pre-made barcodes from low value items. They are then applied over the barcodes on higher value items. This allows the shoplifter to go through the check out process, make a payment, have any secruity tags deactivated by the clerk and walk out without any suspicious behavior. The shoplifter might be working with the check out clerk to ensure the incorrect prices are not noticed.
Barcode Switching
This is when a shoplifter switches the tags/barcodes between to pieces of merchandise most likely putting the cheaper tag on the product they wish to obtain
Booster boxes (bag)
A booster box is a device that allows a would be shoplifter to conceal a large quantity of merchandise on his person. These boxes are lined with metal or some other substance to prevent security tags from setting off the security gates at the exit. Typically professional shoplifters of large girth most commonly attempt this scam. The use of booster boxes is most prevalent at clothing retailers due to the fact that clothing merchandise can be easily molded to fit inside the box. Some professional shoplifters have been known in the past to attempt to use booster boxes to conceal electronics and DVDs.
Coupon returns
One of the more common scams involves returning items that were paid for partially with coupons. Some stores, including Target, refund the entire item amount, including the amount discounted by coupons. Shoplifters involved in this scam often shop at multiple stores, and have family members return items so that no suspicion is aroused.
Defective software scam
A person buys a piece of software from a computer store, exits, opens software, and records serial number/CD key for single license of the software purchased. After at least a few hours the same person re-enters the store he bought the software at and complains to customer service that the installation disc is defective. Most computer store policies allow same-item exchange for opened computer software, so person is given a different copy of the same software. The scammer now has two licenses after only paying for one. A more convincing variation includes intentionally nicking the top layer of installation CD/DVD, rendering the discs actually defective before exchanging it.
Double cart
Two shoplifters are usually involved with this scam. They fill two carts with goods and approach the checkout. They load the checkout with the high value goods first. The cashier scans the items and removes the security tags. One of the shoplifters bags the items and places them back into the now empty first trolley. As the second trolley is being scanned the first shoplifter leaves with the first trolley while the second shoplifter stays at the checkout. The remaining goods are scanned and the cashier awaits payment. The second shoplifter puts on an act of a forgotten wallet. This gives the first shoplifter time to load the goods into a vehicle. The second shoplifter then makes an excuse to go and get her wallet, and leaves the remaining goods at the checkout. She then leaves the store and they escape with the high value goods.
Fake return
Sometimes shoplifters will actually gather an item from the selling floor and try to receive money for it without a receipt at the return station. Although this method is not as fool proof as the receipt matching method, it is very effective particularly when done to an inexperienced cashier. Usually the shoplifter will start complaining to the cashier about his inability to return the merchandise. Typically the shoplifter will state that he lost his receipt or threaten the cashier by stating that he wants to talk to the employee's supervisor. To avoid confrontation the cashier will ring up the return and give the shoplifter the value of the merchandise. (See refund theft.)
False alarm scam
The shoplifter grabs something with a tag on it, puts it into someone else's bag, and waits for him to walk out. As soon as the alarm goes off the shoplifter walks out with whatever he's stolen without being stopped.
Fitting room bagging
Typically this scam is seen in large clothing retailers. This scam generally preys upon the common Loss Prevention policy of prohibiting the apprehension of shoplifters when concealment is not actually seen by an investigator. The shoplifter enters a retail establishment with a large bag, and then selects a large amount of merchandise and takes it to a fitting room. Once inside, the shoplifter conceals the merchandise into the bag out of sight of store employees and store investigators.
This technique is very effective due to the fact that most department stores do not supervise the dressing room (they do not check the amount of clothes a person has before and after using a dressing room). Also, because it is common to leave clothes in the dressing room that one does not wish to purchase, entering a dressing room with clothing and exiting with none will arouse no suspicion.
Gift card cloning
In this scam, a normal store gift card with no value attached is stolen from a store. The shoplifter then clones the magnetic strip on the back of the gift card and makes a copy or copies of it. The original gift card is then returned to the store by the shoplifter. The gift card is activated once purchased by another customer, and the dollar amount applied to the legitimate gift card is passed to all the cloned gift cards.
Grab and run
A common shoplifting technique is known by the Loss Prevention community as a "grab and run." Simply put, a shoplifter enters a retail establishment usually with prior knowledge of what he is looking for. The shoplifter moves very quickly toward the merchandise he or she wishes to steal. Once the shoplifter has found the merchandise, he or she proceeds toward the nearest store exit, usually while running. Due to the short amount of time that the shoplifter is inside the store, persons who attempt this scam are seldom caught or, in some cases, even detected.
Less common is for a group of people to rush into a store, grab as much merchandise as possible, and then rush out. The speed at which this happens as well as the large number of people involved make this approach difficult to stop.
Metal-lined clothing or containers
Metal-lined sacks, containers, or clothing (such as aluminum foil-lined undergarments) allow a would-be shoplifter to shield the RFID tags attached to merchandise concealed on his person from the scanners at the door of a store (see Faraday cage). 2001 Colorado House Bill 01-1221 made it a misdemeanor to possess, use, or know about and fail to report others who possess RFID shielding devices with intent to foil anti-shoplifting devices.
Milkshake subterfuge
A less common shoplifting technique used for smaller high-dollar items is the milkshake subterfuge. A milkshake is purchased by the shoplifter and taken into the store. The shoplifter proceeds to drop small heavy items like jewelry into the milkshake. On leaving the store her milkshake is unlikely to be searched. Shoplifters using this method must be wary of drinking too much of their milkshake or the items will be revealed in the bottom of their cup.
Opening the item
This is a very simple form of shoplifting that has been used for years. The shoplifter gets a small valuable item, quickly puts it in a pocket, so that CCTV cameras and store staff don't notice. Then the shoplifter goes to the public toilet, opens up the item, and flushes wrapping down the toilet. The shoplifter is sure to unwrap the item so that alarms will not go off when he or she leaves. After finishing this, the shoplifter simply walks out with it in a pocket. To combat this, many stores have policies barring unpaid merchandise from being taken into restroom facilities.
Alternatively, with DVDs or other disc type merchandise, the shoplifter picks up the item and walks away with the look of wishing to buy additional merchandise. In another area of the store, the shoplifter very precisely cuts a slit in the cellophane wrapping on the side the case opens on. Using a plastic knife (most commonly, but can be anything rigid and flat that will do little damage to the disc, such as a popsicle stick) the shoplifter pops the disc off of the internal clasp and slides the DVD out from within the case. They then leave the item's case somewhere in the store and exit with the disc hidden. Often this is not discovered until the item is purchased and opened legally.
Another smaller value version of this method is usually used in a grocery store. The shoplifter walks up to an item that they could eat or drink while browsing and does so. An empty can be discarded on any shelf in the store (stores usually do not provide a trash can so no forgetful consumer throws away what they should be purchasing). Even if the shoplifter is not finished with the item, by the time they approach the check out counter the cashier will sometimes think they came in the store with it.
Out the wrong door
This method requires a common outside door with two diverging doors from the vestibule: one for an entrance (which is not usually supervised) and one for an exit. Two people enter the store. One person retrieves merchandise from the selling floor. When this person is ready to leave the store, he waits at the entrance door. The other person walks around to the exit, walks into the vestibule and activates the entrance door on the way out, and the person with the merchandise also leaves. Sometimes the second person will just distract the cashiers while the person with the merchandise waits for some unknowing customer to enter the store and activate the entrance door.
Another variation is to exit through a fire door. Although these are alarmed, by the time staff respond, the shoplifter will be long gone. Many stores now have fire exit doors that operate with a delay - the alarm is set off several seconds before the door can be opened.
Power failure
In the event of a power failure where all lighting and CCTV goes out, the shoplifter quickly grabs as much merchandise as possible and calmly leaves the establishment before power is restored.
Razor Finger
This technique involves using a razor blade to remove or destroy security tags on merchandise. The razor blade is taped onto the fingers with medical tape to give the appearance of an injury. The blade is then used to cut off or destroy the security tags. This technique was used in the book ''Evasion''.
Receipt matching
The receipt matching scam involves using receipts to match merchandise codes from the receipt to items found in a store. Most retailers use company specific merchandise codes on their merchandise so store personnel can identify the location more quickly and efficiently. Additionally the merchandise is used to verify merchandise that was purchased at a particular retailer during a return. This information is printed onto the receipts of purchased merchandise.
Typically shoplifters will search either retailer's parking lot or trashcans looking for receipts that have a high dollar item on it. The shoplifter then enters the store and compares the code on the receipt to the codes printed on the merchandise in the store. Once the shoplifter finds a match he will take the merchandise to the return area and receive money for it. Typically, to avoid detection, shoplifters will use a piece of paper with the merchandise code they are looking for written on it.
Another variation is to purchase the target item, then leave the store, and send a friend back in with the receipt to obtain the same item. The friend can either return the item right then, or leave the store with a second target item.
Receipt passing
A person walks into a retail store and buys a high-value item, such as an iPod. On the way out he gives the receipt to a friend who enters the store, receipt in hand, picks up the same high-value item and a low-value accessory, at the checkout he shows the receipt to the cashier explaining he already bought the item, but walked back to buy the accessory. The accessory is then purchased, and thus the thieves get two for the price of one. This method is combated by locked merchandise.
Rope and fenceline
In large retail stores such as Home Depot and Walmart that have Garden areas where there is no ceiling, two shoplifters will attempt to steal merchandise. One shoplifter will wait outside, while the shoplifter inside will take a cart full of merchandise (such as drills or sawblades) to the garden center. The shoplifter inside will then tie the merchandise to the rope, and throw the rope over the fenceline, and the shoplifter waiting on the other side will untie it and take it.
Self-checkout scam
At some larger retailers, such as Wal-Mart, customers have the option of using self-checkout lanes, in which customers do not interact with employees at all when making purchases but check themselves out at a computer. Customers are expected to scan the items that they wish to purchase, insert payment for the scanned items, then bag the items and leave the store. Shoplifters have been known to purchase small items with these machines, and place additional items in their bags without paying for them. In some grocery stores with salad bars, thieves can find the UPC for a small salad and place a pack of cigarettes on the weighted scanner, type the UPC for a salad, and get away with a cheaper pack of cigarettes. Many shoplifters intentionally act slightly confused when using these machines, and act as if they are attempting to scan the item which they wish to steal, so that, if confronted, they can claim that they took the additional items by mistake.
NOTE: The majority of these self check out machines have scales under the shopping bags (where you place the item after scanning). The scale checks that the amount of items in the bag weighs the same that is scanned. If the weight is off, generally, the supervising attendant will be signaled to come to the station for assistance.
Shoe-switching
This scam involves footwear at major shoe stores or department stores. The shoplifter starts with finding the intended shoes to steal and when ready, asks the store sales associate to retrieve the correct sizes from the back stockroom. Once the shoes are brought out, the shoplifter will try on the shoe and pretend wrong sizing or that the shoe is uncomfortable. They ask for a new size and state that they will do a size comparison in which the shoes being worn are then left with the shoplifter. Once the store associate is sent back to the stockroom to retrieve the 2nd size, the shoplifter simply walks out with the new pair of shoes leaving the old pair in the box. Store associates assume that they must have changed their mind and discoveries are usually made when the same pair of shoes are summoned by a new customer. If seen by other store associates or door/greeting associates, the shoplifter explains that wearing the shoe immediately is preferred.
Shoe-switching (Alternative)
This scam involves stores that allow customers free access to shoeboxes (the customer does not have to ask an attendant to retrieve shoes). The shoplifter walks in with a pair of old shoes and replaces the new shoes in the box with those. Any security alarm tags on the new shoes are discarded. The shoplifter walks out wearing the new shoes while leaving the old shoes behind.
Shoe Box Switching
A shoplifter walks into a shoe store and finds an expensive pair of shoes. The shoplifter wears the expensive shoes. Old shoes in hand, the shoplifter finds a cheap shoe box and places his old shoes in it. At the cash register, the cashier looks inside the shoe box and ask, "Are you wearing the shoes right now?" The shoplifter replies, "Yes, I am wearing the shoes right now." The cashier scans the box and the shoplifter leaves the premises with expensive shoes but having paid for a cheaper pair. This works in stores with accessible shoe boxes, such as warehouses like Academy Sports and Outdoors.
Shopping cart magic
Shopping cart tricks are often disregarded by Loss Prevention personnel. Typically, older or professional shoplifters usually attempt this scam. The scam works in the following way: when the shoplifter first enters the store, they locate an empty shopping cart. The shoplifter finds the item they are looking for and typically place on the bottom or under the baby seat. The shoplifter then continues to gather a small dollar amount of merchandise and places it in the shopping cart. The shoplifter then brings the shopping cart to register and removes all the merchandise with the exception of the item they wish to steal. If the cashier is not paying attention the shoplifter will usually be able to get the merchandise past them without much effort. After paying for the smaller dollar items the shoplifter leaves the store and successfully pulls off the scam. The most prevalent method used to combat this scam is the use of door personnel who are trained to ask for receipts for high dollar and un-bagged merchandise; however, the shoplifter is under no legal obligation to comply with this.
Shopping cart passing
Shopping cart passing is usually attempted by a two-person group of shoplifters. The first shoplifter will gather the desired merchandise into a shopping cart and take it to the register. The cashier will then ring up all the merchandise and place it in bags. Once the total is rung up, the first shoplifter states that they forgot their wallet in their car. The first shoplifter will then exit the store and most cashiers will put the shopping cart off to the side and resume ringing up customers. At this point, the second shoplifter moves in and grabs the cart and walks out of the store with the stolen merchandise in bags.
Wal-Mart TV theft
A shoplifter fills a cart with about two weeks' worth of groceries and a DVD and pays for them at the register. In the meantime an accomplice approaches the store's door with a TV. The two meet up at the doors and pass through simultaneously, with the TV on the far side of the associate/greeter. As they pass through the doors the TV will set off the alarm. When the greeter asks the shoplifter carrying groceries to show his receipt, he claims that the DVD in the cart set off the alarm. The person carrying the TV will be outside waiting for the person with the grocery cart at the getaway vehicle. They quickly flee. The scam is said to work best with LCD TVs under 32".
Walk out technique
The walk out technique is the process of browsing the store, collecting the target item(s), and upon completion, simply walking out of the store with item(s) in hand. This seemingly impractical idea is can potentially be very effective if the shoplifter's appearance and attitude are not of a suspicious nature. This tactic is usually limited to small amounts of clothing and is generally only done in large department stores that have multiple entrances.
Walk out technique (Alternative)
In the alternative walk out technique, the shoplifter walks casually up to the item that he wants, takes it, then walks to the doors. Once the shoplifter gets there, he simply lifts the item over top of the scanners. The shoplifter may also re-use a bag from the same store to put the item into.
Parkour and Graffiti
Here is a short article that should help you out in your life as a Street Bomber. If you love the thrill of bombing at 3am in the city center and not just mellow chill spots this should be pretty obvious but is also quite important. It will add (at least for me) a extra thrill to bombing, it should allow you to hit up riskier areas with alot less risk. Parkour or FreeRunning can be a great sport and way of life in its own right but combined with Graffiti bombing it can be a amazing adreniline rush and help you avoid cop trouble. When the cops show up when your tagging some pretty lit up road or alley in a big city center what most people will do is leg it ! Run as fast as their legs will carry them and keep on running, Now there is nothing wrong with this method but it is usually only successful for those who are fast runners. What about the rest of us, we can run fast enought but a good few cops (not the fat b*stards) are in training and are very fast sprinters, we underestimate them, they do train to hop over fences but not half enough and alot of them couldnt be arsed hopping them. The rest of this article focus's only on some of the most practical ways to outrun any unwanted trouble, to get to more spots faster and to hit up more heavens and hard to reach spots.
These are videos I found about on the net.
Vaulting:
This is the fastest way to get over a railing or wall while keeping momentum, there are many many different fancy vaults that look really cool but this is (in my opinion) the easiest and most practical of the vaults. Here is a Video on how to do the Speed Vault.
Climbing/Hopping Fences:
Small Fences
Medium Fences
Large Fences
Climbing Building/Drainpipes
These are videos I found about on the net.
Vaulting:
This is the fastest way to get over a railing or wall while keeping momentum, there are many many different fancy vaults that look really cool but this is (in my opinion) the easiest and most practical of the vaults. Here is a Video on how to do the Speed Vault.
Climbing/Hopping Fences:
Small Fences
Medium Fences
Large Fences
Climbing Building/Drainpipes
- First, identify the building you want to climb.
- Then look the building over for drain pipes or solid ledges which could hold your weight.
- Then once you have found a good starting point to start your climb, for example, a sturdy drain pipe, you should look for what you would then use to get to your destination whether it be on top or through a open window high up.
- Once your have found a good route up which you are happy with, start to climb.
- If you find this route too tricky, start the process over again but with a different route until you reach your destination.
- There is always a way up a building, but make sure that you can do it.
- If you are attempting this because you need to hide or get away without being seen, try to survey the building from behind a bush or up a tree etc.
- Never attempt climbing a building or object which is high up and not to your ability, it could result in serious injury or death.
Filling a NYC mop
NYC Mop filling instructions One way to fill your Mop is to draw up your ink and put a syringe about 2 inches down, between the nib and the container and fill it up that way. This way might take a little while. But, it does not require you to remove the nib.
The other way is,
Carefully pinch the nib and pull the nib out slowly.
You will noticed a thin middle felt strip between the wide felt strip. Make sure they stay in the same fashion when reinserting the nib. After you carefully pull out the folded folded strip, then fill your Mop with your favorite "Dye Type" ink, don't fill container all the way to the top, leave space for the nib to be reinserted along with the middle felt strip, you can add more ink by putting the ink nozzle between the nib and container or you can use a syringe.
(Do Not Use Paint Type Ink, As it Will Ruin The Felt)
This "marker/mop" is very different than any graffiti tool sold on the market today. Being it does not have a valve and the nib is loose, you have to control the ink flow. It is all in how you hold the mop that will make a differeance. you want to tag in an upright angle. Because if you tag downwards, you will get too much ink flow and make a mess. After a few tags you will get the hang of it and unserstand how it works. It is all in the wrist, I can go bombing and make the drippiest tags around and not get a drop of ink on me or my hands. That is because I am careful in regards to how I hold the mop.
You always want to store the marker in an upright angel. If you store it sideways you will make a mess. If you feel that you can't handle this mop due to the nib being too loose, you should than take the center strip and double it and put it between the big strip and reinsert the whole set up, this will make your nib tighter and you will get less drips. But, you will still have a hell of a bombing tool. I have been using these mops 25 years. So, I have alot of experieance. However, common sense should be able to make you use the mop the way it was intended
Carefully put the nib back into the container, it will go back in the same way it came out (use common sense when putting it in). Once it is in hold mop sideways (not upside down till you see the ink being absorbed by the felt).
What you should do is take the nib out and reinsert it a few times before adding the ink, that way you know how the nib works and you will find the best way to reinsert it...when it is time to actually fill the mop up with ink..
Now you are ready to bomb, you can control the drips based on the angel of how you hold the Mop. To refresh the nib for a drippy tag just hold it long enough till the felt is wet and bomb! Have fun and be careful!!!!!!!!!!!
The other way is,
Carefully pinch the nib and pull the nib out slowly.
You will noticed a thin middle felt strip between the wide felt strip. Make sure they stay in the same fashion when reinserting the nib. After you carefully pull out the folded folded strip, then fill your Mop with your favorite "Dye Type" ink, don't fill container all the way to the top, leave space for the nib to be reinserted along with the middle felt strip, you can add more ink by putting the ink nozzle between the nib and container or you can use a syringe.
(Do Not Use Paint Type Ink, As it Will Ruin The Felt)
This "marker/mop" is very different than any graffiti tool sold on the market today. Being it does not have a valve and the nib is loose, you have to control the ink flow. It is all in how you hold the mop that will make a differeance. you want to tag in an upright angle. Because if you tag downwards, you will get too much ink flow and make a mess. After a few tags you will get the hang of it and unserstand how it works. It is all in the wrist, I can go bombing and make the drippiest tags around and not get a drop of ink on me or my hands. That is because I am careful in regards to how I hold the mop.
You always want to store the marker in an upright angel. If you store it sideways you will make a mess. If you feel that you can't handle this mop due to the nib being too loose, you should than take the center strip and double it and put it between the big strip and reinsert the whole set up, this will make your nib tighter and you will get less drips. But, you will still have a hell of a bombing tool. I have been using these mops 25 years. So, I have alot of experieance. However, common sense should be able to make you use the mop the way it was intended
Carefully put the nib back into the container, it will go back in the same way it came out (use common sense when putting it in). Once it is in hold mop sideways (not upside down till you see the ink being absorbed by the felt).
What you should do is take the nib out and reinsert it a few times before adding the ink, that way you know how the nib works and you will find the best way to reinsert it...when it is time to actually fill the mop up with ink..
Now you are ready to bomb, you can control the drips based on the angel of how you hold the Mop. To refresh the nib for a drippy tag just hold it long enough till the felt is wet and bomb! Have fun and be careful!!!!!!!!!!!
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