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HEADLINE NEWS
NYC Mayor Bloomberg Announces Proposed Legislation for Streamlined Graffiti Removal
 On July 9, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the New York City Council announced proposed legislation that will empower the City to clean more graffiti and ease the burden on property owners. Essentially, it shifts responsibility for cleanups from individual property owners to the City.
"We're cleaning more graffiti faster than ever before and working with the City Council, we are going to introduce legislation to make it easier and more efficient to continue doing that,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “City government, working with property owners and community residents will keep our neighborhoods beautiful and our City safer, cleaner and more livable."
A new process has also been established to shorten removal time. As a result, the Graffiti Free NYC program has doubled the amount of graffiti removed this year compared to the same time period in 2007. "Graffiti is a pernicious and pervasive quality of life problem but our City agencies have made great strides in removing it from our neighborhoods," said Mayor Bloomberg.
The Mayor also announced a new paint donation from The Sherwin-Williams Company to the Mayor’s Paint Program providing community groups with paint and supplies to clean their neighborhoods. Graffiti Hurts® met with the Mayor’s office, Sherwin-Williams Company representatives, Keep America Beautiful and its local affiliate, Keep
New York City Beautiful, and NY Department of Sanitation to help organize targeted neighborhood graffiti cleanups.
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GRAFFITI PREVENTION LAWS
LA Lawmakers Want New Anti-Graffiti Ordinance
The Los Angeles City Council announced in July it is considering expanding restrictions on the sale of aerosol spray paint and other materials to individuals under 21. The public safety committee has directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance, which would then need to be approved by the full council. Councilman Dennis Zine says the committee is also considering penalizing the parents of vandals to help offset the cost of cleaning up graffiti.
The current state law already prohibits the sale of spray paint and etching cream to those under 18, but Councilman Zine hopes the council will raise that age limit to 21, and consider other options such as requiring spray paint purchasers to show identification or making it a crime for a minor to carry spray paint.
Santa Ana, Calif., Community Members Propose Tougher Graffiti Law
A proposed law drawn up by community members to combat Santa Ana, Calif.’s chronic graffiti problem got an initial hearing before the City Council on July 20 at a working session that brought together police, planners, city attorneys and council members to consider details of the proposal. Early in July, a resident was attacked in Santa Ana after confronting graffiti vandals in the act.
The citizen proposal allows for fines of up to $1,000, plus restitution for any property damage, plus community service. It would also hold parents accountable for the fines, for scrubbing out the graffiti and for some community service if their children commit the crimes. The group is using the slogan, “If you spray, you pay.”
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GRAFFITI PREVENTION TOOLS
San Antonio Holds Two-Day Graffiti Workshop
 The City of San Antonio, Texas, held its second annual Graffiti Workshop in June. The two-day workshop, which drew over 150 community residents, was free and sponsored by the City’s Housing and Neighborhood Services Departments’ Graffiti Abatement Program.
Victoria Wilson-Merritt was the featured guest speaker, and also signed her children’s book, Graffiti in Tahiti. The San Antonio Police Department’s Deputy Chief of Police Jeff Humphrey read the book to attendees.
“Perhaps the best received speakers,” says Lisa McKenzie, Neighborhood Services Coordinator/Graffiti, “were three citizens who spoke about their efforts, through their neighborhood associations, to address graffiti.”
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Boston Unveils App to Report Graffiti
 Boston is set to debut its first official iPhone application allowing residents to take photos of graffiti, potholes, blown-out streets lights, and other neighborhood quality-of-life nuisances and e-mail them to City Hall for response. The application is being dubbed “Citizen Connect," and is the first of its kind in the nation. It is an extension of the city’s 24-hour complaint hotline.
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TAGS Hosts 2009 Anti-Graffiti Symposium
The Township of Esquimalt will co-host the national TAGS 2009 Anti-Graffiti Symposium, with the Victoria Police Department (West Division) on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 2009 at the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort, which is located in Victoria, B.C. Canada.
The 2009 TAGS Anti Graffiti Symposium aims to educate law enforcement agencies, local governments and the general public about issues of graffiti vandalism in their communities and to understand who is doing it, what it means, how we investigate it, how we prevent it, and how we control it. Graffiti Hurts® is scheduled to present at the conference.
>For details on conference registration, hotel accommodations, and schedule of events, go to Together Against Graffiti.
Graffiti Deciphering, Interdiction and Investigation Course Announced
 SRR Training will host a “Graffiti Deciphering, Interdiction and Investigation Course” on October 19-20, 2009 in Durham, N.C. The two-day course is designed for police officers, probation officers, corrections officers, federal agents, parole officers, and other law enforcement. The instructor is Sgt. Anthony Mottola, a gang intelligence commander and graffiti expert who has trained street officers, detectives, and others on gang identification
and deciphering.
>Find out more and register for the training here.
COMMUNITY FOCUS
Student Workshops and Cleanups Rally Newark Around Graffiti Prevention
 An alternative program for youth in the Newark juvenile justice system is bringing the community together around graffiti prevention. Through Project ASPIRE, youth have cleaned up, planted greenery, and removed graffiti vandalism from gateways leading into the City of Newark.
“Providing this positive alternative for youth helped them see their neighborhoods differently and eliminated some of the factors creating slums and blight,” says Reinaldo Santiago, Director of Programs for ASPIRA, Inc. of New Jersey. The initiative is a program of ASPIRA, Inc. of New Jersey in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the City of Newark. ASPIRA received a 2008 Graffiti Hurts® grant.
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