We can add graffiti to the list of crimes that urgently demand on-the-spot executions.

At just 17, Israel Hernandez-Llach was already an award-winning artist, on the threshold of acclaim in Miami Beach art circles. He was a sculptor, painter, writer and photographer whose craft was inspired by his home country of Colombia and his adopted city, Miami.

He was also a graffiti artist, known as “Reefa,” who sprayed colorful splashes of paint on the city’s abandoned buildings while playing cat-and-mouse with cops, who, like many, consider graffiti taggers to be vandals, not artists.

It was while spray-painting a shuttered McDonald’s early Tuesday morning that Hernandez-Llach was chased down by Miami Beach police and shot in the chest with a Taser. He later died.

Miami Beach Police Chief Ray Martinez said Hernandez-Llach was confronted by officers about 5 a.m. as he was vandalizing private property, and he fled, leading officers on a foot chase. It ended at 71st and Harding when he was cornered by police and ran toward the officers, ignoring commands to stop, Martinez said.

“The officers were forced to use the Taser to avoid a physical incident," the chief said.

He was hit once in the chest and collapsed, Martinez said, at which point officers noticed he was showing signs of distress. He was transported by fire-rescue to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

A witness tells WFOR the cops were making fun of Hernandez-Llach after he was shocked by the Taser. The police report doesn't mention that -- or the tasing.

It's a known fact that people can die when shot with a Taser in the chest. But since police departments don't have written policies or extensive training on the use of Tasers, we don't have to think about such things.

And as long as voters don't demand their local police departments change that, we'll continue to see stories like this.