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The recent release Vandal Squad: Inside the New York City Transit Police Department, 1984-2004 has caused consternation throughout the global graffiti community with charges that author Joseph Rivera is profiting off the very criminals he spent his career incarcerating.

In response, the powerHouse Arena will host a conversation between former members of the Vandal Squad and the graffiti writers, the first such event of its kind. With the intent of providing an open forum for public discussion to discuss the issues regarding the methods that the Vandal Squad employs and their impact on the lives of the writers themselves. Panelists include Vandal Squad author Joseph Rivera, former Commanding Officer Lieutenant Steven Mona, original Vandal Squad Lieutenant Ken Chiulli, graffiti legend COPE2, graffiti activist Ket, and street artist ELLIS G. The event will be moderated by Stern Rockwell, Streets Are Saying Things.

Founded in 1980, the Vandal Squad's mission was to protect the subway system from hardcore criminal acts of destruction like kicking out windows and throwing seats out of train cars. It was only with the Clean Car Program of 1984 that graffiti became the primary focus of this specialized Unit. On a mission to catch those who gained fame under tag names, the Vandal Squad had to identify and locate these individuals cloaked in anonymity (and often so transient they were referred as "ghosts") using every means available, including the NYPD computer database, Search Warrants, subpoenas, and even vandals themselves. These strategies, and their impact on the lives of the vandals, as well as concerns about the publication of the book, will be the focus of the conversation on Thursday, March 19, from 7-9pm at the powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn.

About the panelists:

Joseph Rivera was born and raised in the Bronx. He joined the New York City Transit Police Department in 1984, and was assigned to the elite Transit Vandal Squad in 1987. Rivera became the lead investigator of the Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team (G.H.O.S.T.) within the Vandal Squad in 1998. The recipient of many commendations for outstanding merit throughout a 20-year law enforcement career, Rivera retired in 2004. Vandal Squad: Inside the New York City Transit Police Department, 1984-2004 is his first book.

Lt. SA Steven Mona, a 21-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, headed the Vandal Squad from 1995 until his retirement in 2006. He also spent several years in the unit as both a patrol officer and Sergeant. He is credited with returning the unit to it's proactive roots and creating an investigatory arm which utilized the latest technologies and tactics to combat graffiti vandalism on several levels. Lt. Mona has spoken on the subject of graffiti vandalism throughout the United States and Europe and the strategies of the Vandal Squad have been mimicked by countless law enforcement agencies the world over. Lt. Mona retired from the New York City Police Department in February of 2006 and now works as a writer and consultant. The father of two grown sons he currently lives in Orange County, NY, with his girlfriend Elaine and their dog.

Lt. Ken Chiulli joined New York City Transit Police Department in June 1966. Promoted to Sergeant in 1980, he we was assigned to the original Transit Vandal Squad in 1981, then a 30-member unit. Promoted to Lt. in 1986 stayed in Transit Vandal Squad 80 member unit with 10 Sgt's. Retired in November 1991. Assigned as the Lt. Comanding Officer of Transit Vandal Squad from 1986-1991.

COPE2 is a legendary graffiti writer who, along with his crew King's Destroy, has been working in the streets of New York for more than 25 years. He was the main focus of the seminal graffiti move King's Destroy and has authored a photography book of his work titled Cope 2 True Legend. cope2kingsdestroy.com, http://cope2.blogspot.com, myspace.com/copetwo

Ket is a former graffiti writer, photographer, magazine publisher, marketing director, image consultant, graffiti advocate, and lecturer. His photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The London Sunday Telegraph, The Source, and Stress. Ket launched Stress, a hip-hop magazine credited for breaking such artists as Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Eminem, and Raekwon, among others. After that, he spun Stress off into an internationally published Spanish language version of the magazine called Hip Hop Nation. In 2001, he became Vice President of Complex before working as Vice President of Marketing for Azzure Denim and Indigo Red. Ket is a marketing and image consultant and has worked for such brands as Atari, Moet Chandon, Lugz, Osiris, MTV, Demo stores, From Here to Fame publishing, the Marc Ecko Collection, Vibe, Nu America Agency, Sprite, and Uptown magazine.

In 2004, Ket re-joined Marc Ecko to develop the controversial video game, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. His marketing ideas landed Marc Ecko in the middle of controversy and lawsuits with the city of New York but ultimately led to a huge publicity bonanza. Active in his community as a muralist, photographer, and youth advocate, Ket's advocacy of graffiti has landed him in frequent lawsuits with the city of New York. His cases have made international news and are all now closed. He is a recent winner of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance grant for visual artists for which he will be creating an anti-war mural in Manhattan. The author of Graffiti Planet and the forthcoming Graffiti Planet 2 (Michael O'Mara books), Ket is currently working on biographies on graffiti artists Sento and Part One, as well as a history of New York's Subway Art. He is also a blogger on 12ozprohet.com where he frequently discusses graffiti, art, and the police state. He has lectured in universities nationwide, including New York University, Brown University, Syracuse University, UCLA, University of Wisconsin, and Wesleyan University.

Ellis Gallagher is a native New Yorker. As a former graffiti writer, his work can be found in New York City and beyond, in Autograf: New York City's Graffiti Writers by Peter Sutherland (powerHouse Books 2004), as well as in numerous newspapers, magazines, on television and in films. Currently a Contemporary/Street Artist known as (C)ELLIS G., Gallagher's work has appeared on the cover of Time Out New York, in the New York Daily News, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, The Brooklyn Paper, Mass Appeal, Artnet, Overspray, Der Spiegel, The Area Revue, H Magazine, as well as on NY 1, RAI TV Italy, Chinese News Network, NYCTV, The Hallmark Channel, Current T.V., WPIX 11 (NYC), NBC 4 (NYC), WNET 13 PBS(NYC) and the streets of New York City and beyond.

Stern Rockwell is a designer, art director, textile designer and graphic artist. He studied the arts at the High School of Art and Design, School of Visual Arts, and Fashion Institute of Technology, all in New York. Rockwell has observed a rich chronicled history of graffiti in its many forms and has been involved in the graffiti community for many years. With Sast, he launched the website, Streets are Saying Things in 2000 to capture the real attitude of this form of expression. Dedicated to the preservation and presentation of graffiti art, Streets Are Saying Things is the largest creative museum online, unrivaled in scope and magnitude. One of the main objectives of Streets Are Saying Things is to encourage an open exchange of ideas and information between supporters to foster a connection to the graffiti art of the past, present, and future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Graffiti writers have left a vivid trail and told their spellbinding tales the world over in countless books and magazines, films and videos, websites and events. They have shared stories of war and glory, of battles and triumphs, and have the pictures to prove it. But many have gone down for those ups; they've been caught in action or hunted as criminals, and brought forth to answer for crimes of vandalism. They've copped pleas or pleaded guilty outright; they've been sentenced to do community service, to pay fines, and sometimes even to serve jail time—yet more often than not they got right back in action. No one knew this better than the New York City Transit Police Vandal Squad.

Founded in 1980, the Vandal Squad's mission was to protect the subway system from hardcore criminal acts of destruction like kicking out windows and throwing seats out of train cars. It was only with the Clean Car Program of 1984 that graffiti became the primary focus of this specialized Unit. On a mission to catch those who gained fame under tag names, the Vandal Squad had to identify and locate these individuals cloaked in anonymity (and often so transient they were referred as "ghosts") using every means available, including the NYPD computer database, Search Warrants, subpoenas, and even vandals themselves.

In Vandal Squad: Inside the New York City Transit Police Department, 1984-2004, former member Officer Joseph Rivera recounts the days and nights spent in pursuit of some of New York City's most notorious vandals. The only book on graffiti told from the perspective of law enforcement, Vandal Squad takes us inside the New York Police Department. Rivera's fast-paced tales of cat and mouse are presented alongside professional disregard within the Department. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and stories of graffiti's infamous Top 40, Vandal Squad offers an unprecedented look at the graffiti world from the other side of the game.

Joseph Rivera was born and raised in the Bronx. He joined the New York City Transit Police Department in 1984, and was assigned to the elite Transit Vandal Squad in 1987. Rivera became the lead investigator of the Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team (G.H.O.S.T.) within the Vandal Squad in 1998. The recipient of many commendations for outstanding merit throughout a 20-year law enforcement career, Rivera retired in 2004.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

District 12 Command was located at the entrance to the East 180th Street/Morris Park Station, which was landmarked so that no construction could ever be done to update the building's facade. By the time I got there in 1986, the Command had moved into a bigger space on one of the dead platforms. There was a little District upstairs with one holding cell that was once a closet they took the door off its hinges and put on a gate in its place. I'll never forget the first time I went up there. "You've got to be kidding me! This is a prison?" I looked at the cell wondering, What happens if you get two prisoners? You can't even fit one in there!

The Vandal Squad was given a small office on the mezzanine and nobody was allowed down there. The Inspector in charge told everyone, "I don't want to see any uniformed cops in that office." It was supposed to be top secret. They didn't want the kids to know where the Vandal Squad office was located, but everyone knew. Guys like PJAY and COPE would visit us all the time. They would kick the door and yell, "WHAT'S UP VANDALS!" They loved to break our balls!

By then I had made a few arrests for graffiti. One time I was off-duty riding the number 6 train uptown with another cop on our way home. We spotted a kid tagging further down in the train car. My friend was looking at me like, "What do you want to do with that?"

"Don't say nothing," I indicated. "Just go to sleep, man. I'm tired."  

Although I was doing my best to ignore the vandal, he did not return the favor. Instead he leaned over me and started tagging right over my head with one of those homemade markers. I sat there for a moment in shock, thinking, "You don't know who I am? I'm Joe the Cop."

I got up, cuffed the kid, and called the Precinct to tell them I had an off-duty arrest. They sent a car to pick us up. Back at the station house, I remember a Sergeant from the Vandal Squad came upstairs and asked, "What are you guys doing? What have you got, an arrest? For what? Graffiti? Hey, off-duty, that's pretty good!"

He remembered me for that; he also remembered that I played softball and that I was pretty decent. Softball was a very big part of the Department. District 12 used to play the Vandal Squad regularly; it was very competitive. There was a team called Headquarters and they used to recruit right out the Academy. If you were a great ball player, you were on their team! I used to hate playing them.

In 1987, about a year after I joined District 12, the Vandal Squad Sergeant asked me if I wanted to join the Unit. I was unsure at the time. Just a month earlier, while chasing a robbery suspect, I fractured my ankle. I had been assigned to cover one of the busiest stations in the District 12 area, the E. 149th Street and Third Avenue Station on the number 2 line. I was standing at the bus transfer box, checking everyone's tickets when I heard a woman scream for help. I ran to the top of the underpass stairs and observed a woman being robbed. Just as I began my descent, I stumbled, fell down a flight of stairs, and fractured my ankle.

Since I couldn't give chase, I called in the robbery and a description over the Police radio and then asked for an ambulance. When the EMT arrived, they put me in the ambulance on a stretcher facing the wrong way! Not a good sign of things to come. I specifically requested that I be taken to Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx. Instead, they drove me to Lincoln Hospital better known at that time as the "Perp Hospital." As they wheeled me towards the packed emergency room, the EMT attendants tried to force the stretcher over a bump on the floor. That didn't work out so well. Instead of gliding over the bump, the stretcher bounced in the air, throwing me head first (in full uniform) into the emergency room. I landed on the floor; there was total silence. Then everyone broke out laughing like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

So there I was a month later on crutches with the Vandal Squad Sergeant telling me, "I've got to know if you want to join by next week at the latest."

I had to think about that. District 12 was taking good care of me. I had just got a steady seat driving a patrol car, a real big thing back then. Getting assigned to a squad car was one of the few perks offered to an active officer. I was very comfortable where I was and it was a big step to start over somewhere else. But it was plainclothes and not having to dress in a uniform every day was a plus for me. 

I decided to accept his offer. I went to the doctor and asked him to cut off the cast. Then I went back to the Sergeant and told him, "Yeah, I'm coming to Vandals. Draft me right in."

Miss Rosen Editions, a division of powerHouse Cultural Entertainment, spotlights contemporary urban culture with titles including Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985–2005, We B*Girlz by Martha Cooper and Nika Kramer, Pees on Earth by Ellen Jong, Bombshell: The Life and Crimes of Claw Money, It’s All Good by Boogie, Bears by Kent Rogowski, Hamburger Eyes: Inside Burgerworld by Ray Potes, New York State of Mind by Martha Cooper, Do Not Give Way to Evil: Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979–1987 by Lisa Kahane, Belgrade Belongs to Me by Boogie, We Are Experienced by Danielle Levitt, Vandal Squad: Inside the New York Transit Police Department 1984–2004 by Joseph Rivera, It’s Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, the First Latino Hip-Hop DJ by Ivan Sanchez and Luis “DJ Disco Wiz” Cedeno, Pillage by Brantly Martin, and FUN! The True Story of Patti Astor. Publisher Sara Rosen, Associate Publisher and Senior Vice President of Marketing & Publicity of powerHouse Books and editor of powerHouse Magazine since 2006, also curates exhibitions at The powerHouse Arena.