Dallas police will try a new co-option policy to control illegal graffiti by giving artists ‘free walls’ and sponsoring artistic competitions in exchange for agreements from artists to paint only in state-approved spaces, reports The Dallas Morning News. “The days of, ‘Let’s arrest them all and let God sort them out,’ is just not smart on crime,” Police Chief David Brown told Dallas City Council members during a recent meeting of the Public Safety Committee. “This is an attempt to be smarter on crime.” Skeptical, Council member Sandy Greyson said at the public safety meeting. “I just have very little sympathy for these so-called artists that feel they need to express themselves.” Meanwhile, equally skeptical street artists threaten collaborators with harm, or at least excommunication.
