Over the past several months, the Salem Police station in Salem, Oregon has incurred almost weekly vandalism.

During anti-police protests in front of the building, leftist extremists have applied chalk, other substances, and signing to the sidewalks, planters, stairways, walls and portico of the building.

The graffiti has done varying degrees of damage to the facility.

Typically, City of Salem facilities crews have been able to wash off the graffiti, but recently the damage appears to be longer lasting if not permanent. One evening of damage required the construction company for the building to resurface and retexturize the cement steps.

Just the removal of the graffiti has cost the City of Salem hundreds of dollars in staff time, with costs to the contractors being much higher.

Balancing the public’s right to the freedom of expression and gathering with unlawful actions is a priority, according to the Salem Police department. They claim that because of that, they have used discretion toward the minor damage to the building in the recent past.

As this damage has become more costly and permanent, they have stated that they are now forced to set boundaries and limits as to where similar activities can occur on the property. The Salem Police Department is now apparently warning that if these limits are not respected, enforcement action may be taken.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-05-08 05:42:48

Last Update: 2021-05-08 10:30:53