Graffiti has been scrawled on Morgantown businesses for the past couple of months. Caernarvon Township Police intend to make an arrest shortly.
“We had some vandalism, graffiti, going on for the last couple of months, a pretty long time,” said Sergeant John Scalia, officer in charge at Caernarvon Township Police Department in Berks County.
Scalia said most of the graffiti has been found in the center of Morgantown, affecting mostly businesses. Graffiti occurred at about 2 or 3 in the morning.
“We have some great leads. A lot of officers are working on this, at least three of them at this point. We are going to make an arrest coming here shortly,” said Scalia. “But we definitely could use more information if it’s out there.”
The graffiti has been on mostly businesses.
“Rita’s Ice was struck real bad… there’s the furniture store, the garage, unfortunately the Post Office, and the library was affected, and a garage behind the library in the cemetery.”
“Melooo” and “lard” were the words used a lot. Scalia did not know the significance of those words.
“The concern we have is it’s costly. The people that we know are doing it are young individuals. We don’t know where they’re going in life, this is just the beginning of their tirade and we’re hoping this is something we can try to stop, get them back on the right direction,” said Scalia. “You never want to see your townspeople going in the wrong direction.”
Scalia said residents are very upset.
“I hear it everyday. They’re very angry. They’re angry with us obviously because we haven’t done anything at this point, but unfortunately with this kind of thing you have to take your time. You have to get everything down perfectly. That’s why we didn’t jump on it yet.”
He said officers have been conducting numerous interviews.
“It’s going to soon come to an end, people are going to get arrested,” he said.
Scalia understands people’s frustration, “They don’t want their properties damaged. They work hard for what they have and they want to keep it that way.”
He said this is a beautiful community.
“We have nice places, nice people. This looks bad.”
Scalia reached out to Joe Reilly from Berks County Adult Probation and Parole Office to help with the clean up, to scrub off all of the graffiti. Reilly came out and assessed the situation and once the weather warms up, clean up can begin.
When asked why someone would do graffiti, Scalia said, “The kid that I know, I think they’re having family issues. (Graffiti) it’s the way they lash out. There are issues at home and they think they don’t have anyone to turn to. I think that’s one of the reasons they lash out.”
The Township and Police Department have tried numerous ways to reach out to youth, including summer kickball nights. “It was a great showing. Winter shows up and it’s too cold to be out there.”
The township puts on movie nights, put in playgrounds, and Parks and Recreation have put on programs, he said. “There’s things out there if they want to get involved.”
Scalia said it’s the parents they need help from.
“We need people to realize kids are going down the wrong direction and we can come together as a group, as a society. I’m not big on arresting everybody that comes through my door. Sometimes people need help. Kids need help. It’s as tough out there as it is for us.”
His message to parents is to not be afraid of the police department. “Maybe it’s something we can say, ‘You did the graffiti, now go scrub it off while everybody watches. Or bring them to a counsellor. We are looking for many options, not just to nail somebody to a wall. A lot of people don’t give us that opportunity.”
Meanwhile, residents have working to create a new community center.
Caernarvon Township, Berks resident Michelle Raymond, “a strong supporter of Twin Valley” involved in the new Twin Valley Community Center, invited people to the center’s first meeting, March 1 (held after press time).
She countered the claim made that the meeting was to meant discuss the vandalism issue.
“The meeting regarding the Twin Valley Community Center at the 4th Street Cafe is NOT to solve and discuss the graffiti problem,” writes Raymond to Tri County Record. “Yes, the conversation arose as a result of the recent vandalism, however that will not be the purpose of the meeting. Our intentions are not to create a ‘public lynching’ of who everyone thinks is behind all of this.”
The meeting agenda includes creating the mission, brainstorming ideas for short term and long term needs, and forming the board.
“Our intentions are to begin to create something positive out of a negative for future and current generations,” she writes, encouraging all to come and brainstorm.
For more information, visit the Twin Valley Community Center facebook page.
