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I first saw Homer Simpson around the corner of the 成人X站 Radio offices in Seattle鈥檚 Eastlake neighborhood. The doughnut-eating cartoon icon I grew up with was distinctly spray painted on a sidewalk behind some shrubbery. And he wasn鈥檛 alone 鈥� this was just the beginning.

Homer began showing up at quite a few places. Another sidewalk in Eastlake, and then in the University District. On an electrical box off Ravenna Boulevard, on the wall of a diner in Roosevelt. Then on the boarded-up Ying’s Drive-In on Lake City Way. He was popping up in the most random places I passed. Sometimes his nose was painted a bit off, other times it was an unmistakable likeness.

Graffiti in a city is visual white noise — it’s faded into the landscape and often overlooked. But Homer stood out. Maybe it鈥檚 because of his celebrity status. Maybe because he was painted in locations many other tags weren鈥檛. Homer, as I found him, wasn鈥檛 painted in places he would be easily seen — not oft traveled sidewalks, around corners of buildings. And I admit that it became a minor obsession to find Homers hanging out in Seattle.

I asked around town and no one else seemed to be noticing him. I even reached out to The Simpsons and got a reply: Woo hoo.

Woo hoo!

鈥� The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons)

The only person in Seattle that seemed to have any clue about what I noticed was Seattle Police Detective Chris Young.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen it. It鈥檚 quite good, actually,鈥� Young said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a good cartoonist. I do not know who is doing it.鈥�

But it鈥檚 probably no surprise that Young has seen Homer. He is Seattle鈥檚 very own graffiti detective.

Seattle鈥檚 graffiti detective

In 2010, Seattle began studying the problem and discovered that cities with successful anti-graffiti programs had their own graffiti detective.

In 2011, Detective Young became Seattle鈥檚 first graffiti detective, working with the Criminal Intelligence Unit. While he bears the title of graffiti detective, he investigates a range of crimes in Seattle.

His job involves reviewing every graffiti report that comes through SPD, much of which is written by the public. He keeps a record of common tags, creating a trail of evidence. When a person committing a graffiti crime is arrested, Young can then tie them to a string of other incidents. He personally arrests about two taggers each year. Patrol cops come in more direct contact on the street and make more arrests.

The charge against those caught for graffiti is generally for property destruction.

鈥淭here are a lot of myths about graffiti 鈥� the biggest one is that people think that it鈥檚 all gang related when only a tiny percentage of it is. Another myth is that it鈥檚 just kids when most of my offenders are adults.鈥�

It鈥檚 myths such as these that Young has documented in a website he manages solely about graffiti investigations 鈥� Graffipedia. On it, he lists out the common characteristics of taggers, many of whom defy stereotypes.

– 71 percent adults (average age of 23)
– 77 percent white
– 89 percent male
– Primarily middle-class

Seattle graffiti culture

The graffiti scene is a very distinct sub-culture and it is filled with very passionate participants.

鈥淭hey take it very, very seriously,鈥� Young said. 鈥淭hat is the thing that surprised me most when I got this job. For some of these guys, graffiti is their life.

Young said that a sense of community and fitting in is part of the attraction to graffiti, but the primary reason people tag is the thrill.

鈥淭he motivation is thrill-seeking and attention-seeking behavior,鈥� Young said. 鈥淭hey view it as an extreme sport, like bungee jumping, because there is an element of danger — getting hurt or falling, or being caught by police. They talk about getting an adrenaline rush by doing it.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes people will shoplift when they have money because they enjoy the thrill of getting away with something 鈥� it鈥檚 the same thing,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hey tell me they are addicted to it, and they get a rush from it.

“When you go online and read their forums, they don鈥檛 talk about art that much. It鈥檚 more about being a bad ass.鈥�

Another myth, according to Young, is that graffiti is about art. Graffipedia shows a range of graffiti forms from tags to hate-crime related forms. There are some that bear messages, and others are somewhat artistic 鈥� Homer Simpson would fit into that last category.

鈥淭he guy doing the Homer Simpson tag, he can draw,鈥� Young said. 鈥淏ut most people that are really good at street art do it legally because there鈥檚 demand for that. I make a distinction between street art, and graffiti.

鈥淢ost of our bridges have street art,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he north end of Aurora Bridge has a beautiful mural on it 鈥� there鈥檚 an artist named Henry Ward who makes a living do this.鈥�

Seattle鈥檚 graffiti neighborhoods

Young goes to many areas of Seattle for graffiti reports, but he spends a lot of his time in Ballard and the International District 鈥� these are the two most tagged neighborhoods in Seattle. Those areas have what is called high 鈥渂uff and burn鈥� ratios.

鈥淭argets are selected based on their buff and burn characteristics,鈥� Young said.

Buff and burn is basically an equation to calculate where to tag. 鈥淏uff鈥� is the likelihood and time span a tag will be removed. 鈥淏urn鈥� is how much eye traffic a tag will get 鈥� as if burned into your memory.

Low buff but high burn locations are prime targets, and Ballard and the International District have plenty.

鈥淔or example, the back of every sign on I-5 have graffiti all over them,鈥� Young said. 鈥淭he reason is because the guys who work on the freeways are not willing to risk their lives to clean it off 鈥� they have to block off lanes and get a cherry-picker. So it鈥檚 going to stay up there for close to a year. The Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle has high traffic, but it will be cleaned up immediately. That鈥檚 the thing about Chinatown, there鈥檚 a lot of abandoned buildings down there right now.鈥�

That posed a bit of a dilemma: by snapping photos, and writing about Homer Simpson, did I just contribute this tagger’s burn? Well, yes.

鈥淭here are some graffiti detectives that would freak out, ya know, don鈥檛 give them attention,鈥� Young said. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 a good thing to discuss. It鈥檚 a part of urban life 鈥� it鈥檚 something to deal with.鈥�