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RICHLAND, WA
James Canada was heading home from his father-in-law’s Richland house when his wife called.
“She said, ‘Where are you?’ and I said, ‘Right in front of you..’ She said “You need to pull over someone spray-painted something on your car,” the veteran Kennewick police officer said.
When he stopped at a Clearwater Avenue gas station, he saw someone had scrawled “F--k 12” in silver paint on the side of his Nissan Altima. “12” is a slang term that can refer to police officers.
Canada, who was visiting his father in the Orchard Hills neighborhood, was one of about 10 victims of a tagger going through the neighborhood from 8 and 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Along with leaving phallic symbols and “Gay Pride,” there were multiple times that “Garcia” was scrawled. While resident Danica Garcia can’t say whether it was targeted at her, it felt that way.
“There are only two Latino families in the neighborhood,” said Garcia, a Richland School Board candidate. “I’m not certain if it was targeted except to say that my last name was painted.”
The graffiti was pretty extensive throughout the neighborhood, Garcia said. People had their boats tagged, back fences were marked as the tagger appeared to walk along bike trails in the neighborhood.
While so far 10 people had called the police, Richland Capt. Drew Florence said there would likely be more reports by the end of the day. It was likely going to be thousands of dollars worth of damage to the community.
The homeowners association was starting to organize a clean up of the homes.
“I think the folks that I’ve spoken with are shaking their heads with disbelief,” Garcia said. “It’s a peaceful neighborhood. People are shaking their heads and saying this is just not how we do things.
“Other neighbors are obviously upset. Someone’s beautiful boat go spray painted.”
Canada took to Facebook to share his frustration about the spray paint. His post showed the damage to the car. “As if things couldn’t get any worst, to the coward who did this to my car, you should thank God that I did not see you do this,” he said in the post.
More than 100 people commented their sympathies for the officer, Washington State Fraternal Order of Police President Marco Monteblanco said it was frustrating because police have been working with the community to build trust.
Monteblanco works with Canada at the Kennewick Police Department. He pointed out Canada volunteers as a football coach and in other community activities.
“Officer Canada is an outstanding member of the Kennewick Police Department. He has dedicated his professional life and his personal life to the Kennewick community to make it a better place for all who live and work there. This kind of behavior is uncalled for and will not be tolerated,” Monteblanco said in a statement that went out Thursday afternoon.
It didn’t take long for people to come together and help get the paint off Canada’s car. In an update, he said Mel’s Auto Body did an amazing job getting paint off.
While he was frustrated when he discovered the paint, Canada said he doesn’t let it affect his determination to do his job. He hopes that his post motivates people to call the police if they see something unusual happening in the neighborhood.
“If anything, it just makes me more resilient and to have even more outreach and have even more,” Canada told the Herald. “It’s going to rock me to do more things to get out into the community to raise awareness.”
Police are looking for the person who tagged the homes, Florence said. The pattern appears to be random at this point, and the person was on foot.
In cases like this, where the tagger doesn’t leave behind a signature piece of graffiti, it’s less likely police can track down who the person is, Florence said. They are hoping someone had a camera or saw something that might lead them to the person.
It doesn’t appear the graffiti was gang-related, he said.
Anyone with information about the tagging is asked to reach out to Richland police through the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333.
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