State grant to help combat graffiti

Neighborhood law enforcement officials are stepping up efforts to combat graffiti thanks to a state grant to hire a coordinator for both Spokane COPS and Spokane County SCOPE graffiti abatement programs.

The Paint Over Graffiti (POG) coordinator will review graffiti reports, look for volunteers and supply donations to cover over graffiti and work with property owners to remove graffiti both in the city of Spokane, Spokane Valley and the unincorporated county, said Spokane police Lt. Rex Olson.

The $10,000 grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs isn’t enough to pay for a full-time person, but police say it’s a step in the right direction. The hope is that if they can demonstrate success with this initial round of funding, more grant money may become available next year.

To start out the coordinator will work two or three days a week.

“We’re going to see where we can take it,” Olson said.

Spokane COPS graffiti hotline and neighborhood shops take 60,000 graffiti reports each year, said COPS Director Christy Hamilton.

“We know that’s not all the graffiti in Spokane,” Hamilton said.

Though graffiti tends to be concentrated in urban areas, it’s an issue countywide, said SCOPE Director Rick Scott.

Scott said teens recently went on a graffiti spree in the East Valley area, but were eventually caught.

“It just kind of goes in spurts,” he said.

A key component for graffiti abatement is public education, Olson explained.

“I want to get people to become more willing to report it, especially if it’s in progress,” he said.

Spokane police are also working with the city’s prosecutor to rewrite graffiti laws to mandate property owners promptly remove all graffiti. Right now the law only requires immediate removal of gang-related graffiti, which accounts for only about 10 percent of the messages and images sprayed on fences and buildings. The majority, which is not covered under the removal law, is tagging by non-gang members.

Hamilton said she hopes the POG coordinator will be able to direct resources to people who can’t afford to take care of graffiti on their property.

That’s important, said SCOPE’s Scott.

“The city and Police Department here in the Valley don’t want to revictimize the victims by mandating removal if they can’t afford it,” he said.