Wipe Out Graffiti Campaign

Association of Washington Cities - 2010 - AWC Municipal Excellence Awards

Summary

The “Wipe Out Graffiti” initiative began in the winter of 2008. Renton’s new ordinance allows the city to seek restitution from the parents of graffiti vandals and utilize the funds to assist the victims of graffiti.

Description

The “Wipe Out Graffiti” initiative began in the winter of 2008. Renton’s new ordinance allows the city to seek restitution from the parents of graffiti vandals and utilize the funds to assist the victims of graffiti.

The city’s approach to reducing graffiti included partnering with local businesses, educating and engaging the community, providing a hotline to report graffiti, hiring a graffiti abatement coordinator, installing surveillance cameras, and offering a reward for identification and apprehension of graffiti vandals.

The costs of the program:

• Surveillance cameras: $6,000

• Graffiti removal kits, volunteer graffiti abatement activities: $3,000

• Outreach/education: $2,000

• Part-time Graffiti Abatement Coordinator: $16,000

• Supplies (operation, support): $4,000

Key Successes

• Educational outreach campaign has improved public awareness, which has increased the number of timely reports of graffiti throughout the city for a faster clean- up response and the apprehension of vandals.

• Two graffiti vandals were apprehended and the families paid for the cost of cleaning and removing the graffiti to avoid arrest and a criminal history. The offenders also took responsibility for their actions, did community service, and agreed to work at home to pay back the amount paid to the city as penalty.

• With help from the city, neighborhoods have formed volunteer clean-up crews