Shreveport Police Department PO Box P · Shreveport, LA 71161 · 318/673-6932 · Fax: 318/673-6933 www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/spdnews FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: Mar. 20, 2000 Contact: Cindy Chadwick Ron Norwood Warning! Don't write in the concrete! Ever get the urge to write your name or leave your handprint in freshly poured concrete? Stop! You could be breaking the law. Shreveport Police Chief Jim Roberts said when the writing or impression is on public property, the act becomes illegal. Offenders can be fined or ordered to jail for felony or misdemeanor property damage. "Fresh concrete has tempted children and adults alike for as long as we can remember," Roberts said. "Most people don't realize they are committing a crime by writing on property that doesn't belong to them. That's why we think it's important to get the message out." Police were alerted to ongoing damage recently by Joe Lonadier, president of Service Construction and Supply Co. The company is replacing sidewalks and building concrete ramps on 20 streets in Shreveport at a cost of $260,000. "Every street we've been on we've had to go back and fix some part of it," Lonadier said. He estimates about 15 percent of thepanels on each street and 50 percent of the ramps have been defaced. If the concrete work doesn't pass construction and ADA codes, the construction company must make repairs at its own expense. That's already cost thousands of dollars. "When there's damage due to vandalism, it doesn't pass the specifications. Once it's repaired, even if it does meet the codes, it doesn't leave a very pretty sidewalk," Lonadier said.
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