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Organization: City of Santa Clarita
Date: January 27, 2009
City's Graffiti Removal Task Force Sees Significant Impact in 2008
The City of Santa Clarita's Graffiti Removal Task Force made a significant impact in the community in 2008. Through collaboration with the Sheriff's Department, residents, local schools and businesses, the City's Task Force removed more than 3,000 tags from washes, plus more from bridges and trails.
In addition to helping the City maintain its visual appeal in 2008, the Task Force assisted in 292 arrests, a 46 percent increase from last year, and judges ordered more than $42,000 in restitution to the City for graffiti removal.
Largely responsible for alerting the City to tagging issues, The Graffiti Hotline received 9,994 calls and 1,338 eService requests from the community. A resident also donated $1,000 to the program to show appreciation for the City's prompt removal.
The Task Force partnered with the Sheriff Department's Graffiti Detective, Gang and Juvenile Crime Unit and the Community Interaction Team resulting in nine surveillance operations, 12 arrests and the identification of more than 150 taggers. The program also assisted the Sheriff's Department in obtaining valuable information on new tagging crews and trends, allowing for a more proactive anti-graffiti approach.
Volunteers also played a crucial part in graffiti removal in 2008. On Graffiti Wipe Day in May, 75 community members removed more than 150 tags from the Avenue Scott and Central Park washes and 600 volunteers worked with the City to remove more than 2,500 tags as part of the Teens Against Graffiti program. For the Rio Vista Wash Project, 1,000 students removed graffiti and used 100 gallons of paint to cover tagging in the wash behind their school.
The City also partnered with local schools to get the word out about the Graffiti Removal Task Force in 2008. More than 6,000 students from the Newhall Community Center and local schools participated in graffiti awareness presentations and upwards of 7,000 residents viewed the city's graffiti webpage.
To assist with graffiti removal in private areas, the City issued 30 "Private Property Notices" to remove graffiti with 100% percent compliance and provided more than 200 flyers for the Graffiti Hotline and Rewards Program during Extreme Neighborhood Makeover events.
To get the community involved in the graffiti removal process, the City held a number of events including Graffiti Wipe Day and provided residents with 120 containers of Graffiti Wipes to clean light boxes.
In addition to collaboration with the Sheriff's Department and the community, the Graffiti Task Force joined with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, College of the Canyons, AT&T, Edison and Time Warner to prevent and remove graffiti across the City.
The Task Force plans to make an even bigger impact on graffiti in 2009 by creating a "Fight Graffiti…Get Rewarded" ad campaign, PowerPoint presentations for students and working on logistics for the Paint Matching Trailer, which will assist with prompt removal. The e-Graffiti database will also be utilized to continue developing relationships with schools and organizations throughout the community to eradicate graffiti and increase tracking.
For more information on the City's Graffiti Removal Task Force, contact Nicolas Marinelli, Graffiti Removal Coordinator, at (661) 250-3735 or visit santa-clarita.com.
