Yellowknife (Aug 18/03) - A Yellowknife RCMP officer tracked down four youths responsible for most of the graffiti in Yellowknife, and arranged for them to work for the businesses they hit.

When possible, they actually cleaned off their own graffiti, said Const. Paul Mounsey.

He embarked on the project in March after receiving a complaint about a spray painted building.

Mounsey took a look at the defaced wall and realized he'd seen the exact same thing before. So he began taking digital photos of graffiti around town.

"I couldn't believe how much there was," he said. "It's always been around but this year it's rampant."

By analyzing the styles of graffiti in Yellowknife, he realized there were just four or five people responsible for most of it. The next step was finding out who they were. It wasn't easy.

The youths who hit buildings around Yellowknife want their work to be seen and recognized around town. But they also want to remain anonymous to avoid getting caught.

They often quickly scrawl their 'tag' on whatever is around. A 'tag' is a word that represents them, or a self- imposed alias, explained Mounsey.

"They get a certain style and they want to get it out there and get it known. It's sort of like recognizing someone's handwriting."

Sometimes these kids paint a "piece" which is a more involved form of graffiti. A piece is usually painted off the beaten track, because it takes more time and they want to avoid the police.

Mounsey has inadvertently become an expert in graffiti subculture. He's fluent in the street slang and has documented a brief history of graffiti in Yellowknife in his report about the case.

The teens believe graffiti is art, but to Mounsey calling it art is glorifying vandalism.

"They may believe it's great artwork, but people have businesses and they don't want graffiti on them. I don't think I'm alone in not wanting to see graffiti and swear words all over town."

Mounsey hit the streets asking teenagers questions about the town.

Some of them talked to him, some didn't. When the same names kept popping up, he compared where the different styles were located with where the suspects lived.

He caught some of the youths spray-paint in hand, others "came clean pretty quick" when questioned by police. Another youth is believed to have moved to Calgary.

The kids were decent kids, he said, with no past run-ins with the law. Mounsey hoped to show them their actions affect real people. He also wanted to find a solution that would benefit the victims without tying up the court system.

He spoke to the kids, their parents and to the key businesses hit.

"I talked to the businesses to make sure they were on line because it's work for them. They had to monitor the kids."

One of the kids was even offered part-time work at one of the businesses, said Mounsey.

Mounsey also made the teens write letters of apology to the business owners. "It really put a face to the victim," he said. "They just see it as a building. But when they met the property representatives, they realized it's actually someone's stuff. That made me feel good, that they actually saw that."

One of the teens had spray painted black paint on a memorial to a respected Yellowknife lawyer, Loraine Minish-Copper, who died of breast cancer last summer. The memorial marked the spot near city hall where a garden will be planted in her honour.

"One letter went specifically to the Cooper family," said Mounsey. "I really wanted it to sink in. When he saw it, it was just a sign. When you're 16, you're not thinking about memorial gardens and stuff like that. He wasn't thinking about the family. He thought about the family after. He felt bad."

Mounsey compiled a report about his investigation and gave it to high schools so staff can adopt the same investigative techniques by noticing if graffiti at schools matches what kids are scribbling in their notebooks.

Although he's reluctant to call graffiti art, he does admit the teens involved have an artistic streak. One in particular has talent, he said.

He wanted to get this across to the kids, without encouraging graffiti.

"I said, you could benefit from this legally, without damaging other people's property."

"You walk that fine line by saying put it to canvas, get a job doing this, or go to art school."