On August 25th, individuals incarcerated in the Ocean County jail will once again be participating in a work detail to clean up identified graffiti sites, Police Chief Rob Lawson tells TLS. For the next few weeks,  Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein and Police Chief Rob Lawson are asking people to call the Quality of Life Hotline (732-942-5003) to report any graffiti they see in public places, right of ways and public buildings, such as libraries, schools, municipal buildings, community centers, telephone poles, and utility boxes, for example. 

During the last cleanup in June, Lakewood Police Chief Robert Lawson, said, “We’re are hoping that those who are vandalizing property with graffiti will get discouraged from doing it as a result of this graffiti cleanup program. Of course, if we see anyone doing it, they will be arrested for criminal mischief or damaging people’s property. There can be substantial charges.”

What’s different about this cleanup however is, that Committeeman Lichtenstein is looking to have the private properties included in this cleanup.

“We don’t want to put the burden on the private citizens, and would like to see the public entities being allowed to work on private properties as well”, Committeeman Lichtenstein, who is the liaison to the police and most of emergency service departments in town, tells TLS. “This would allow us to work with otherwise well maintained properties that are affected by gang-related graffiti”.

The Township Committee is expected to vote on it tonight.