Vandalism cleanup on Sunline buses is racking up tax payer money

Police are investigating a recent string of vandalism to Sunline busses across the Valley. Sunline exceeded their 2016 maintenance budget and now taxpayers are stuck cleaning up the mess.

Vandalism has always been an on-going problem for Sunline, but officials say they’re reporting more tagging and damage to buses than ever before.

Sunline’s Deputy Chief Safety Officer, Mickel Garcia, says vandalism on the buses is all to common.

“If you notice they [offenders] tend to go towards the back of the bus cause they are hoping not to be seen,” Garcia said.

Little do those vandals know, there are nine high-definition, real-time cameras on each bus.

Public Outreach Specialist, Norma Stevens, says surveillance video is now in the hands of local police agencies.

“We take this crime very seriously. We are going to be cracking down on any perpetrator caught damaging our property. We are going to seek prosecution. There are also heavy fines that go with that and possibly some jail time,” Stevens said.

According to Stevens, Sunline exceeded their 2016 maintenance budget by about $100,000, which is money funded by tax dollars.

“Instead of Sunline spending money repairing seats and replacing windows and window frames, we would much prefer to take those resources and spend it on improving frequencies, and also providing bus service to areas that currently don’t have any,” said Stevens.

Sunline is reminding people, if you see something, say something.

Sunline officials also say they are instructing drivers to contact headquarters if they see anyone vandalizing buses. Sunline went on to say, they can then notify police who have access to those real-time cameras, find their location and prosecute offenders on the spot.

Earlier Thursday:

Officials with the Sunline Transit Agency in Thousand Palms are talking to KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2’s Lauren Coronado on Thursday about ongoing vandalism occurring on their buses. And the money that’s being used to clean the vandalism is coming from tax payers.

The agency has high-definition cameras installed on all of its buses, but that isn’t preventing some people from tagging bus seats with graffitti and scratching/etching windows and window frames.

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Sept. 2016: Two people arrested for felony vandalism at Motel 6 in Palm Springs