Ten Steps To A Graffiti-Free City 3/22/13

IN TERMS OF EMPOWERMENT

• To become a graffiti volunteer, you were required to attend a three-hour class, held once a month, only on Saturday.  The class covered the history of graffiti, how to remove graffiti with solvent, how to paint over graffiti and my favorite…how to operate our power washer – which no one was ever allowed to borrow or use anyway.
• There were a total of 124 on-going graffiti volunteers.
• Staff organized group graffiti paint-outs every Saturday.  Members of these groups did not do any additional graffiti removal throughout the rest of the year.
• Staff would go to community meetings to tell the group about the Anti-Graffiti Program and to recruit volunteers.  They would usually go first on the agenda to explain the program and tell them about the three-hour class they needed to take to volunteer.  They would ask for volunteers, give each a business card, and tell them to “call me at the office and I will tell you when the next class is and sign you up for it”.

Ten Steps To A Graffiti-free City 11/27/12

When I first started, I asked the staff lots and lots of questions.  I assured them that I was not going to come in and make willy-nilly changes.  I didn’t even tell them that I was thinking of the disconnect that I just described.  Remember – they were proud of what they did and did not think that there was a problem.  I felt that I had to tread lightly.  During this initial period, I learned quite a bit. I learned that:

IN TERMS OF ERADICATION

• If someone reported graffiti on the Graffiti Hotline it would take an average of 21 days to remove it.
• If a member of the City Council (or their staff) reported graffiti, staff would drop everything and remove it immediately.
• If a member of the public complained about the slow response time and threatened to call the mayor…staff would drop everything and remove it immediately.
• The performance measure target for removing graffiti was “48 working “ hours.  It was explained to me by staff that “48 working” hours was really six workdays NOT two days.  They told me that sounded better and that the administration never really asked them specifically what that meant.  I knew right away that deception would come back to haunt us some day when the administration figured it out…and boy did it!

Ten Steps to a Graffiti-free City 10/9/12

            The only problem that I saw when I was transferred into the Anti-Graffiti Program was that there was graffiti EVERYWHERE.  It had become part of the urban landscape.  You couldn’t drive anywhere without seeing graffiti – lots of it.  It was in all corners of the city. It was big and small. It was on sound walls.  It was on bridges.  It was on freeway signs.  It was on utility boxes.  It was on buildings.  It was on fences.  It was on polls.  It was on… well you get the idea.  There seemed to be a huge disconnect between the image of this respected program and what you saw on the streets.  What I didn’t know was why this disconnect existed.

Where you can find the book

Hi David,

Thank you for asking where you can find the book “Ten Steps To A Graffiti-free City”.  Currently, only the first step or Chapter Guidebook “Just How Bad Is It Anyway?  How To Conduct A City-wide Graffiti Survey” is available and you can find it on our website www.thegraffiticonsultants.com  Click on the “Material to Help You Become Graffiti Free” tab to find it.  More Booklets will be added as they are printed until all ten are complete.  Thanks again and good luck!

Ten Steps to a Graffiti-Free City 9/24/12

Let me paint a picture for you of the graffiti situation in San Jose when I was transferred into the Anti-Graffiti Program in 1997. The program was not new. It had been established as a multi-faceted anti-graffiti effort (or program) for at least five years. Individual pieces of the program had been in existence even before that. They had embraced the popular “4E’s”: Enforcement (catching and prosecuting graffiti vandals), Education (sharing graffiti information with adults and telling youth not to participate in graffiti vandalism), Eradication (getting rid of the graffiti), and Empowerment (recruiting volunteers to remove graffiti in their neighborhoods). The program was well respected – both inside and outside of San Jose. They did an excellent job of promoting their strengths and successes. The staff in the program was very comfortable in their roles and very proud of their efforts. Their marketing materials were first-class. Their oral reports in meetings always put a positive spin on the many anti-graffiti activities that they provided with an immense amount of pride.

Ten Steps to a Graffiti-Free City 9/17/12

I will now attempt to show you why I’m confident that the systems and strategies in this book will greatly reduce graffiti in your city.  I was the manager of the City of San Jose’s Anti-Graffiti and Litter Program for 10 years.  Believe it or not, San Jose is the 10th largest city in the United States with a population of just under a million and an area of 177 square miles.  During my time there we were able to reduce graffiti in San Jose by 99.88%.  Like any successful achievement, this improvement included the ingredients of hard work, learning from mistakes, and good luck.  But most important of all was the mayor and city council who were determined to get rid of graffiti and allowed staff to design and follow a strategic plan that will dramatically reduce graffiti in any city that chooses to implement it.  I freely admit that a very few cities may never be able to fully benefit from this information simply because they’re too large to make improvements in systems that are written too deeply into stone and/or that have severe gang populations i.e. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago quickly come to mind.

Ten Steps to a Graffiti-free City 7/23/12

            First, however, let me identify the primary target market for most of the information in this book: city employees.  We will spend most of our efforts explaining how cities should organize themselves and carry out the plans that are described herein. Some of the information does focus on county agencies – especially in regard to the consequences graffiti vandals must face when they are caught.  These groups include judges, adult and juvenile probation departments, and the offices of district attorneys.

Ten Steps to a Graffiti-free City 7/21/12

            How do you know that is worth your time to read this book?  How do you know that the information (if followed) will lead to what I promise you – graffiti being substantially reduced in your area?  Well…the best way to answer these questions is to give you some background of what has happened in a few cities that have employed the systems and strategies that I’ve spelled out for you in this book.

Is this blog for you?

            How do you know that is worth your time to read this blog?  How do you know that the information (if followed) will lead to what I promise you – graffiti being substantially reduced in your area?  Well… the best way to answer these questions is to give you some background of what has happened in a few cities that have employed the systems and strategies that I’ve spelled out for you in this blog.

            First, however, let me identify the primary target market for most of the information in this blog: city employees. We will spend most of our efforts explaining how cities should organize themselves and carry out the plans that are described herein. Some of the information does focus on county agencies – especially in regard to the consequences graffiti vandals must face when they are caught. These groups include judges, adult and juvenile probation departments, and the offices of district attorneys.

Let’s get started!

My name is Rick Stanton and I despise graffiti. It frustrates me to no end that graffiti vandals eagerly deface the property of others. Given the target market for this blog, I’m sure that the vast majority of you feel the same way. Raise your hand if you have ever asked a coworker “How do you think they would like it if I wrote my name with spray paint on their car?” According to the United States Department of Justice, the annual cost of graffiti removal in the US in 2010 was a staggering $12 Billion.  I am also pretty sure that many of you have said “Just think of all the good things that could be done in the world if all the money that is needlessly wasted on anti-graffiti efforts was used for the good of the community. Imagine all the additional soccer fields, community centers, and libraries we could have built. Imagine how many fewer potholes over which our cars would be driving”. (By the way… you can put your hands down now). Can we all agree that working full-time (or even part-time) in an anti-graffiti effort can be frustrating, demanding, exciting, and challenging all at the same time?  Most likely, you don’t find it easy or boring.

            The bottom line is that it is my hope and dream that this blog will help you with your anti-graffiti efforts. If you follow the suggestions in this blog, you’ll succeed in your efforts to reduce (almost to the point of elimination) the graffiti for which you are responsible. The information contained in the following pages is the culmination of my 15 plus years of full-time work in the anti-graffiti field.  It also includes the insights of other highly successful anti-graffiti professionals worldwide.