8 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
June 2013
Citizen involvement needed to prevent, report and remove graffiti
CRIME PREVENTION
NOTEBOOK
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Almost $3 million taxpayer dollars.
That’s the amount spent each year
eradicating graffiti in the Portland
metro area.
But if you think this only happens
in the inner city or on freeway signs,
you’re mistaken.
Graffiti is a growing problem, ac-
cording to Stefanie Adams, crime
prevention coordinator for South-
west Portland, especially in the
Southwest.
“No community is immune,”
Adams stated. “But the public and
business owners can do something
about it.”
When there is a problem with
defacing public property, there is a
feeling of an uptick in crime. When
graffiti is not removed, it can attract
more crime.
Finally, graffiti doesn’t necessarily
mean there is a gang problem.
“Eighty-five percent of this prob-
lem is the act of a tagger,” Adams ex-
plained. “They want notoriety, get an
adrenalin rush from it, and tagging is
a way of leaving their moniker like a
type of ‘business card.’”
So what to do about it? Adams pre-
sented several options at the monthly
Multnomah Neighborhood Associa-
tion meeting in May.
Prevent. Remove graffiti as soon
as possible. That means within 24-48
hours. Lighting a property that gets
plagued with the ink, stickers, or
paint can deter repeat episodes.
Shrubs or thorny plants can be in-
troduced; fences or railings installed;
and limiting access to roofs are great
ways to deter tagging.
Community murals are another
way to resolve a problem as taggers
are more reluctant to deface them
since their ‘art’ cannot be as easily
observed.
Report. Call the City of Portland’s
Graffiti Hotline at 503-823-4TAG
(4824). Report graffiti on your own
property to the non-emergency police
line (823-3333). There is also an Office
of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI)
website for reporting purposes.
www.portlandonline.com
Only call 911 to report graffiti in
progress. Photographing vandalism
is always recommended.
If you have a smart phone, there is
a free app to report it: PDX Reporter.
In order for the information to be us-
able, it must include a clear, close-up
photo, your contact information and
a physical address of the graffiti. If
your phone has GPS capability, this
will be recognized by the app auto-
The following public service announcement is sponsored by
Come To
Graffiti removal is the responsibility of all citizens. Calling 503-823-4TAG is one way of
reporting it to the city and have it removed. A free app for smart phones is also available:
PDX Reporter. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
matically.
Remove. Property owners are re-
sponsible for cleaning up graffiti on
their property within ten business
days. There is variety of low/no-
VOC (volatile organic compounds)
paint available at many fire stations
or by calling the Graffiti Abatement
Program at 503-823-5860.
Never remove graffiti from some-
one else’s property. Report it instead.
Cleaning graffiti off stop signs, direc-
tional signs or other public property
should be left to city officials. Trans-
portation Bureau technicians have
solvents which won’t ruin the face
of the sign.
Livability is one of the highest val-
ues rated by residents and business
owners in the southwest. Adopting
a few streets, picking up litter, and
organizing graffiti removal teams
are ways citizens can work together.
According to Adams, the City will
train volunteers and outfit them with
the necessary resources.
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