Targeted at home. Police in Boca Raton reveal a vandal spray-painted an officer's garage door. The words were not a direct threat, but a message against the police community.
A city employee discovered the same message painted on a wall at University Woodlands Park.
The words are gone, but they left their mark.
Boca Raton police Chief Dan Alexander explained what the graffiti said. "The gist of the graffiti was that not every officer is bad, but bad officers should be exposed,” he wrote in a statement.
He's not sharing the exact words discovered at the park and at an officer's home Friday. But his statement went on to say, "While the vandalism was not threatening in nature, these incidents are of concern to us and have been assigned to a detective for a thorough follow up investigation."
“It’s really despicable that someone has the gall to spread that hate,” said John Kazanjian.
He is president of a police union which represents more than 5,000 officers at departments around Palm Beach County. He does not represent Boca Raton’s officers.
He told NewsChannel 5 he considers this vandalism incident a hate crime.
“It deflates us, it takes the wind out of our sails when we see this,” he continued.
Which is why Boca Raton's chief and others in south Florida are using social media to share positive stories. Chief Alexander recently posted Facebook pictures of the people from his community dropping off brownies and flowers for officers.
“The majority of the people, they know what we do. They respect us. They know how tough our job is and what we go through every day,” Kazanjian said.
Boca Raton city council member Robert Weinroth said he was “disturbed” when he found out about the vandalism. He said public safety is the city’s top priority.
“I’m hoping this is an isolated incident and is really just an aberration,” he said.
Detectives continue to investigate this case.