Letter: Get help on graffiti

Many years ago I was a public school teacher in a Long Island, N.Y., school district. One day a police officer visited me at school with a loose-leaf binder full of photos that were taken of works of graffiti. He asked if I could identify the “tag” or the style of any of the graffiti artwork ... and I could.

One of my students in the current year and another, a student a few years earlier, had used the very same designs and tags on school books, on the school walls, etc.

I think it might be a very good idea for a sheriff’s deputy or Bluffton police officer to photograph all graffiti and share the findings with local teachers, who may be able to help identify the culprits — some of them amazingly talented artists. Perhaps, together, we might even be able to channel their talent to better uses.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Letter: Get help on graffiti."