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Author Topic: Graffiti prevention Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: Boulder Creek, CA. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-30-2008 01:31 PM                     Plain and simple. What methods are you guys and girls using these days? At some of my theaters we're currently employing a very expensive coating of some kind that is constantly being etched in. It's supposedly there to prevent people etching the glass (the one that gets hit almost daily is in an urban redevelopment area). We have the same stuff on our restroom mirrors and it's still a problem -- someone etches the coating, we replace it, it happens again. I'd love to be able to have staff on-hand constantly to monitor this activity however the problem-child building in question is very large (3 floors, 8 restrooms) which makes this more difficult than usual. So...What do you all do?  |  IP: Logged Mike Williams Master Film Handler Posts: 255 From: Knoxville, TN Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-30-2008 02:37 PM                     They are etching the metal bathroom mirrors right? Got any spare rectifiers sitting in the booth? You could wire it into the back of the mirror to give a nice little suprise to the next one that tries to etch anything. ZAP!!! Now for the serious answer: Is it practical to just take down the mirror in some of the smaller bathrooms?  |  IP: Logged Jim Bedford Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 597 From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-30-2008 04:57 PM                        Because we have just one toilet in our historic theatre we took out the mirror and placed it outside the bathroom. This was not to prevent graffiti but Luci figured out if people didn't have themselves to look at they wouldn't spend so much time there. She was right. BTW, other than people making sure they don't have white powder on their nose or spinach in their teeth or were gazing at their makeup, why have mirrors in problem bathrooms at all? As far as public areas go, how about setting up security cameras? They pay for themselves quickly or you can continue paying forever for repairs caused by tagging miscreants.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-31-2008 12:45 AM                        Gotta be careful tho about cameras in anywhere in the vacinity of a bathroom. Lawyers can smell that lawsuit two blocks away from your front door.  |  IP: Logged Jim Bedford Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 597 From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-31-2008 08:25 AM                        Should have figured that someone would take my "public areas" and confuse them with toilets that most would consider as private areas. No Frank, I was describing the "Toilet Cam" as a solution to the world's problems.....  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-31-2008 08:32 AM                     I do not know of any health department regulation requiring a mirror in any restroom. They are provided as a courtesy to the customer. Courtesy abused = courtesy removed KEN  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-31-2008 06:59 PM                        quote: Kenneth Wuepper Courtesy abused = courtesy removed We had a soap pump in our restroom for quite a while - until it got ripped off of the wall. So we went to a bottle of liquid soap on the sink. People (girls, mostly) would squirt it on the walls, pour it in the sink, fill the bottle with water, drop the whole thing in the toilet, etc. So we went soap-less for awhile, which caused complaints, so now we have a bottle of hand sanitizer on the counter and a stack of "wet wipes" behind the counter that we give out on request. I don't know what it is about restrooms that inspire vandalism. We virtually never have any problems anywhere else in the building, including the outside. (Knock on wood.)  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-31-2008 09:37 PM                       Vandalism-reduction lessons learned from the drive-ins: - Leave the doors to the restrooms propped open (if practical). - Use light color schemes.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-01-2008 05:57 AM                        Adding to Tim: Remove writing EVERY NIGHT without fail. It will help!! Notices and camera in the area of the bathroom that does not show the stalls. Louis  |  IP: Logged Galen Murphy-Fahlgren Master Film Handler Posts: 405 From: Canton, MI, USA Registered: Oct 2007 posted 08-02-2008 01:29 AM                     Well, not vandalism per se, but we've had 5 car windows broken into in two days, 4 in broad daylight, in our side lot, which is visible from the busiest street in town. The cops don't seem to care, despite the fact that the absolute absence of violent crime in our town means they literally have nothing better to do than deal with this. We waited a full half hour for them to show up tonight. We've taken to frequent patrolling of the lot, as well as checks for suspicious activity from the roof, but that didn't stop this last one. The people having sex in a car further down our lot didn't notice anything either. I swear, this is not how things usually are here, except the worthless unresponsive cops.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-02-2008 05:50 AM                     Galen, Please be aware that your parking lot may be private property. As such, it is the owner's responsibility to keep it safe. If the cars were parked on the street or in a city owned parking space, it would be the responsibility of the police to make it secure. This is why there are private security companies with uniformed employees who 'police' private property for a fee.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-02-2008 08:48 AM                        A very large national circuit (one of my customers) once had a similar problem. Rooftop commandos with radios and night-vision glasses stopped this dead in one week. Louis  |  IP: Logged Rick Hartmann Film Handler Posts: 5 From: Jackson, NJ, USA Registered: May 2008 posted 08-02-2008 12:28 PM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser Rooftop commandos with radios and night-vision glasses Where do I sign up for that job? I once worked for a Shop-Rite in my town. This was back in my teen years, I think I was 15 at the time, but anyway, they used to have a huge problem with vandalism in the bathrooms. They tried everything they could think of, and didn't have much luck. Until one day a customer put a stop to it permanently... Some punk kid thought it would be funny to etch a certain phrase into the mirror, i won't way exactly what it was, except that the first word started with "N" and it ended in "suck." Well needless to say, another customer walked in and caught him. He didn't take too kindly to it, and very abruptly beat the living crap out of the kid. The cops were called and it was a big mess, but all the local kids stopped doing it. To this day I still shop there, and their bathroom is always vandal-free.  |  IP: Logged Jim Ziegler Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 753 From: West Hollywood, CA Registered: Jul 99 posted 08-02-2008 02:37 PM                     quote: Galen Murphy-Fahlgren The cops don't seem to care, despite the fact that the absolute absence of violent crime in our town means they literally have nothing better to do than deal with this. We waited a full half hour for them to show up tonight. Realize that these are low priority calls, as such, you are going to have to wait until there is a unit available. Even if your city has low violent crime rates, that doesn't mean that there are not higher priority calls in the queue.  |  IP: Logged Galen Murphy-Fahlgren Master Film Handler Posts: 405 From: Canton, MI, USA Registered: Oct 2007 posted 08-02-2008 11:13 PM                     I realize the cops aren't my own private security force, but there really is nothing going on that they need to take a half hour to respond, when we have identified potential persons of interest who may leave at any time. My irritation with them extends much deeper than this one issue, even back past the enormous brawl in my lobby last fall in which they didn't even write down a plate number or accept any of the ones I got for them. That is quite another story, however. My issue is that their job is to prevent or punish crime, and when we hand them a crime scene that is almost guaranteed to produce more results, they go off to write speeding tickets for 3 over. My job is to play movies, not fight crime. Anyhow, we had someone on the roof all day today, and frequent patrols through the lot, and had no further break-ins. It is surprising, however, how suspicious people's normal behavior is when you are really watching everyone. Honestly, how many times do you need to circle the lot, park, get out of your car, smoke get back in your car, smoke again, and leave? Apparently this is how most teenagers spend their Saturdays.  |  IP: Logged

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