Genome

When they were yelling at me, it was all I could do not to say "Jawohl, mein Führer." Hehehe... Ze Germans! And no, I'm not busting out on the charges, because I'm just to old for that shit now. I'm just going to work on the merits of my case and try to plea down to a small fine and some massive community service for the remainder of my time here in Europe.

Hey guys - I'm back in for a minute to check in while I have the chance here. I got busted with only a couple cans of paint, and a couple of caps - I was just doing a bump and run through the city on my way back from the bar. By sheer coincidence I did have my blackbook on me, because a buddy who was scanning some stuff from it gave it back to me at the bar. I got nailed because some lady out window shopping at 3am called me in and gave a description and the direction I was heading. The supreme irony of this is that I don't paint illegally anymore. I had the paint to touch up a legal mural I had done. I haven't, as I said earlier, actually broken the law in any way for a few years. I was just drunk, though - stinking drunk - and for some reason I thought that an old fart like me who was too drunk not to cover his hands in paint, and too slow to stay clear, should go out and get up in one of the most over-policed towns in Germany. My favorite part was when one of the cops asked me how many pieces I had illegally painted in the town since I got here. Knowing I was already completely busted, I cooperated and told him "Only five." He naturally didn't believe me, yelled at me for thinking he was stupid, etc, etc. So my plan is, since I'm supposed to be here until May, assuming they don't cart my ass home, to write an apology letter, point out that I was drunk and stupid, that I have a clean arrest record in the states, etc etc. Then I'll offer to do Graffiti scrub for community service, or somesuch, and beg the mercy of the court. Anyhow, guys. That's the situation over here in Europe, and before anybody asks, no, I'm not going to jet to avoid charges. I'm too old for that shit now. Anyways, keep the thread going, get your legal advice up here for each other, have fun, stay safe, and keep you heads above water. Much love, -Genome-

In a horrific twist of irony, your buddy Genome was just arrested by the Polizei, after nearly a decade of owning a clean criminal record. As in, non-American, non-escapable German police officers. They were nice enough to get me a cup of water (but no lawyer,) take my keys, go into my house, take all my supplies (art and graffiti) and translate the really hard words back into English. Now, looking at the possibility of thousands of Euros worth of fines, and being shipped home across the Atlantic, I realize the truth of what my fiancee told me while the cops ripped our bookshelf apart - I'm a fucking moron. Sorry guys. Looks like I'm looking at the end of my job, my time in Europe, my economic stability, all because unlike in America, these guys got to do whatever they wanted with me, as long as I was told in English to sign a piece of paper, one way or the other. That is, of course, if the fiancee doesn't kill me, first. So, essentially, what I'm saying is, my computer has been confiscated, along with my livelihood, and I'm borrowing a buddy's lappy to write this current post. I'm going to have to abandon 12oz, and obviously this thread, for a little while. Take care of each other, and if somebody would be so kind as to keep bumping this thread up, adding new advice and commentary, I'd owe them one. The irony of creating a new I.D. to beat the heat, and then immediately be arrested, does not in any way escape me. Wish me luck, -Genome. P.S. If anybody knows of the right ways to "rub" the German legal system, let me know here in the thread. Much love, guys.

No, the original poster needs to be shot and then cast in bronze for all eternity. To answer the O.P.: Tell you what, since you are so worried about it - start a thread asking somebody else to "Design My Tag For Me, PLZ." Then, get a bunch of "Etch" and "Homemade Krink" and make sure you "Silence Your Cans." Go out and "Graff" that shit. And don't forget to rhetorically ask yourself "Why Should I Wear a Respirator?" And later, when you start a thread called "I Got Caught On Twelve Different CCTV Cameras Bombing My School, Am I In Trouble?" I'm going to fucking laugh so damned hard, I'll shit myself a couple of times. Seriously, these threads are starting to get absurdly over-abundant. Go over to Bombing Science and chill with the other tools - with this as your opening post, I don't think there's much hope for you here.

Crystal.method: I'm sorry that I wasn't on to respond to your questions, I had to head out to the Czech Republic to visit family for a few days, and missed all the action. I'd like to thank everybody in this thread that helped out Crystal, too. I'm glad things turned out well for you. Keep that head of yours above water, buddy, and keep the faith. And everybody asking about silencing their cans, again, please, wrong thread. Use the search function in the Forum Index to find that thread for more information. Also, as people have commented here already, DO NOT put your personal information up in this thread or any other thread on 12oz. By all means, ask questions galore, even regarding your personal case or previous experiences, but never mention any of the following, listed here in no particular order: 1.) Your name or address, or the city you get up in. 2.) Any aliases that are different from your login and posted work here on the forum. 3.) The name of your lawyer, judge, or arresting officer. 4.) Any other information that I didn't mention here that could identify you, your case, or anybody else in the forums. 5.) The name of your crew, or anybody else, ever. Even if they fingered you. Remember, The Mechanical Ghost of Graffiti Past from the Future will visit great destruction upon any who narc out their fellow writers. This goes double for the toys. Despite what the man tells you, smoking does make you cool, and fingering your friends does not. -Genome out. P.S. Okay, I lied. Smoking doesn't make you cool, at least not when you turn into an old fart like me and have trouble getting up a single flight of stairs. Is it any wonder I advocate not running from the cops? ;)

Getting a little off thread topic here - like I said, search the forum archives first, as per the forum rules. This is a legal advice thread. P.S.: Yes, most cans today use plastic or glass mixing balls.

^^You know, the best way to earn respect on the 12oz forums is probably to go around calling everyone stupid when you only have 3 posts up to your name - and trying to sound gangsta probably isn't going to help here either. Run back to the Bombing Science Forums, little piggy.

Yeah, blow off. If you won't rack, you need to run to mommy-the-wonder-ATM and stop bothering us with this shit. "Fuck you guys" indeed. Children these days. I remember when toys actually wanted to learn.

Word. Etching pens rock my world. But not etching. That shit is crazy stupid. Scribe on personal property, "pyt," and I will personally come and scribe your shit back. That ain't cool. Busses, stops, and payphones. Anything else, I hope someone breaks your face.

And we never saw "BL3R1" again. It's okay. It was a stupid handle anyways, man. Come back and try again sometime.

It's funny, now that you mention it - whenever I want paint to come out of clothes, it won't... whenever I don't want it to, it does. So, I guess the answer isn't Montana - that shit comes right out. Just try shit till you figure it out. And then iron it uncovered to seal it. Works every time.

Depends on the cans - certain cans that works, certain cans it doesn't. See elsewhere in the forums for more information - I know there was a thread on this three or four months ago in the Yard somewhere. Search for "silencing cans" or something like that.

No harm, no foul. Not a particularly stupid question, just not exactly perfectly thought out. Getting off on a technicality is more typical in graffiti in a situation where you, say, get arrested for a particular piece, and they can't prove that you actually painted that specific mural. Most technicalities I've seen occur when the cops get too specific, trying to nail you harder, instead of just getting you for "possession of graffiti implements" or "criminal mischief in the 2nd."

You have to work on your fonts first, bro. Then you need to work on your overlaps, overlays, and connections. These barely even look like letters, and these "letters" barely even look like they have anything to do with another. And I know in the beginning it's easy to overlap all your letters the same, left to right, like you read, but you have to get off that, too. Also, get a decent sketchbook, and some decent (but cheap for now) markers. And practice lettering and spacing before you start hammering out words. Keep it up. -Genome

I call bullshit on the Rookie with two posts who caused the equivalent of 100.000 dollars in damage and get let off with a caution. There's bullshit, and then there's just HOW FUCKING STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE?

What I enjoy here is the amazing number of people on this thread that won't be able to breath through their noses with a dissolved septum in five years.

INCOMING BEEF Okay, as you guys know, I pretty much maintain my legal advice on this thread only, so I'm going to use it to address a statement that has been coming up a lot on other threads in this forum. And I quote: "Always run! Fuck getting arrested." Okay, we're going to take this one step at a time... Typical Vandalism charges: Class B Misdemeanor Possession of Graffiti Implements: Class C Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief in the 2nd degree: Class A Misdemeanor Attempt to Evade Officer of the Peace in the 2nd: Class D FELONY Attempt to Evade Officer of the Peace in the 1st: Class C FELONY So, there you go. Proof number one that you are idiots. You run, you get seven or eight cops after you instead of one. You run and they throw the book at you. You run and you are quite probably going to get caught. It's these guys' jobs to catch people like you when they run. They are very good at it, and they have a bunch of squad cars while you have nothing but your legs and a bag of paint slowing you down. Secondly, you get busted, and you get hit with the Class D or Class C Felony, PLUS the charges for whatever they hit you with on your original crimes. And no matter what the law claims, in a court in the United States, running is an admission of guilt. So now you are caught, guilty of a felony and three or four misdemeanor counts instead of just the misdemeanor, the cops are pissed at you, and you don't get the satisfaction of pissing all over John Q. Law. Whereas, if you would just listen to the advice of the people that have been doing this for a decade or two who keep saying the trick is to minimize your chances of getting caught, and behave in a rational manner during police encounters, you would have a single misdemeanor count that could probably be plead down to community service or dismissed completely. If you want to be a moron, by all means go ahead, fewer bad artists bumping around on my walls and busting my pieces. It's like I've said I don't know how many times before - know how to be invisible, know when to run, know what's what, and know when to hold your ground and stand on your rights. No course of action is always right. You want to be a king, you have to get past the law every night, in every district. You need to be up everywhere. If you're a runner, they are looking for you - and it's time to find a new handle. Nobody wants to lose five years worth of built-up reputation over some grind with the Vandalism Squad. So try thinking for once, and for FUCK'S SAKE, stop telling all the new and aspiring Graff artists that come on these forums to permanently fuck their criminal records just so your dumb ass can sound like a smartass. I like the Toys - I was one myself once. And I like to see them be able to progress instead of being hounded by the Vandalism Squad for the rest of their lives. This is a graffiti resource section - you want to yank yourself off, do it in Channel Zero or something. People come here for information - well thought out, well presented information. Don't be a fucktard. BEEF COMPLETE On a side note, I've been writing for 13 years now, and haven't had a single Felony to my name since before I was 16 - and that was for stealing a car, not vandalism. At 18 my record got expunged, and I haven't gotten a single Vandalism charge against me since then, and I've had plenty of run-ins with the law. Someday you guys might get a little older, like me, and want to also have a real job - I couldn't have gotten the job with the design firm that work at, were I to have applied with a listed felony on my criminal record. There's a perfectly good reason why I post this info for you young pups, and it isn't because I want the kudos. Graffiti kids can be really smart, talented people. And the field of art and design needs good, smart, talented people. I got my start on the streets, and now the streets are where I go to get back to basics. But if you play it smart Graffiti can turn into a life for you off the streets, just like it has for me and thousands of others. I know that when I was younger this wasn't much of a temptation, but we all grow up eventually. In the meantime just play it smart, okay, guys? -Genome

I have to notice - everything relaxing in this thread is "hot." Hot shower, hot sex, hot meal, hot dog, hot bath... ... and a roach. And I'm going to go heat up a frozen pizza. Am I the only one that sees the connection?` Somebody set themselves on fire, tell me if it's soothing. QUICK! edit: Don't think about it, just do it.

Go to Paperchase - the yard is for graffiti technique and technical discussion. For fuck's sake - it's not that hard to figure out. Christ. -Genome.

Well, if you say it that way, it's not as helpful. Like I said, I recommend "Am I being placed under arrest at this time, or am I free to go?" Also, since I've been getting requests from a lot of forum members for information about UK stop and search rights, but don't know jack about the UK personally, I am posting this link, HERE, which concerns UK search procedures and rights. Hope it answers everybody's questions. And here is some VIDEO LINK that one of the forum members sent me. Fairly helpful, if, of course, you can get past the cheesy, stereotypical "American Teenagers" acting. -Genome

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Nice constructive criticism, guys. If you don't care to offer constructive criticism, don't open a thread called "constructive advice please." My advice is simplify, work on cleaning up your lines, reconsider your lettering styles, space your letters better, scale your letters to each other better, and don't use so many damned colors until you know what the hell you are doing. A newbie's first pieces should be a three-tone with black or white, max. Nail that, then get into the wildstyling. Also, ditch the arrows. Seriously.

No way, dude. I would ABSOLUTELY wear green tights when I paint, if it wasn't so damned conspicuous.

The offense is usually called "Possession of Graffiti Implements/Instruments" in most locations. And, yeah, you're right. In truth, once you've been busted successfully, and have a permanent record, it's going to be a lot harder to get away from a police encounter without being screwed. Still, remember to protect your search rights, and you should be able to prevent Probable Cause in many situations. And for some of the long-term members of the Graffiti community, being busted three times is just peanuts. Like I said in an earlier post - if you maintain this lifestyle long enough, your chances of eventually being apprehended increase into the near-100% range. -Genome

Unfortunately, this isn't true everywhere in the states anymore. In some cities, having paint gives the cops the right to decide for themselves whether you earn "Graffiti Punk" status. In Chicago, Denver, and a few other cities across the U.S., it is now all police discretion.