Graffiti Removal Team Ready For Summer Spike

As we approach the summer months, the city’s Department of Transportation readies for an increase in graffiti on public and private property.

Daryl Cole, the director of the department, told ABC-7 the office typically receives 150 calls a week to remove tagging. Cole said the volume increases by about 10 to 15 percent from June to August.

But Cole said the five crews dedicated to graffiti removal have their system down to a science. Roughly 95 percent of tagging is cleaned off within 48 hours of a report being filed.

“The key to tagging is removal,” Cole said. “If you’ve gone through the work and done the tag, and it’s gone the next day or two days later, and you do it again and it’s gone two days later, it loses its effect.”

To report graffiti, call the police department’s nonemergency number, the graffiti removal hotline at 621-6789, or file a graffiti removal report online here.