Graffiti complaints, cleanup efforts on rise

Graffiti complaints are on the rise across the USA, and some cities report as much as a doubling in calls about defaced property.Officials in large cities such as Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago, as well as smaller ones such Asheville, N.C., all report increases in graffiti cleanups in the past year or more.Cities aren't necessarily seeing a lot more graffiti, but police, politicians and the public are paying more attention to it, says Conni Kunzler of Keep America Beautiful, a coalition of groups supporting community beautification efforts."These sort of low-level, quality-of-life crimes are the things they see every day and that affect their neighborhoods," Kunzler says. "That awareness can often get the public to call in when they see graffiti."Some of the graffiti comes from gangs, Kunzler says, but as much as 85% comes from "tagging," an outgrowth of hip-hop culture in which the culprit leaves his or her signature. Taggers are trying to rebel or get attention, she says.Among the cities with sizeable increases in complaints and cleanups:Denver. Received more than 29,000 calls about defaced property last year, up 98% from the year before, and cleaned up 41% more graffiti, according to Regina Huerter, executive director of the city's Crime Prevention and Control Commission.Chicago. The city-run Graffiti Blasters finished 172,000 jobs in 2008, up 10% from the year before, sanitation department spokesman Matt Smith says. Cleanups are on pace to increase again this year, he says. Los Angeles. The city's Public Works Department removed graffiti from more than 31 million square feet of surfaces in the 2007-08 fiscal year, up 4% from the previous year and 48% from three years earlier, says Jonathan Powell, spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. This year seems to be keeping pace with recent years, he says.Burlington, Vt. Police Chief Michael Schirling says his city has seen such an increase in graffiti in the past 18 months that it has created a full-time job of removal coordinator and assigned a full-time detective to policing vandals. Asheville. City officials are considering what to do about their mounting problem. Police Capt. Tim Splain says calls related to graffiti increased an estimated 20%-30% in 2008 from the year before."It's starting to look like Mad Max in certain sections of town," says Anthony Cerrato, who owns Fiore's restaurant with his father. Graffiti covers the back door and the back of the building, he says.Not all cities are experiencing an increase.Complaints of graffiti in New York City fell 9% in 2008 from the year before, New York Police Department spokesman John Kelly says. Dallas police Senior Cpl. Janice Crowther says the problem there has diminished the past two years.The technology available to fight graffitists has increased, Kunzler says. Some cities are putting cameras in graffiti hot spots that send an alert and a GPS location to police when they spot someone, she says. Other police departments, she says, are scouring social websites to find culprits bragging about their handiwork.Schrader reports for the Asheville Citizen-Times in North Carolina.