Graffiti

Graffiti Prevention for Your Business

Graffiti hurts your business by reducing retail sales, declining property values and scaring customers away. Customers feel less safe entering a storefront where graffiti is present.

What to do when your business is vandalized:

Report: Call 9-1-1 to report graffiti in progress. To report existing graffiti on public property, call 3-1-1. Read More... Document: Take a picture of the graffiti before it is removed. Photographs will assist law enforcement in their investigation. Remove: Remove graffiti promptly and completely.

Prevention Strategies

There are strategies businesses can use to reduce or eliminate graffiti on their property.

Maintain the appearance of your business Eliminate littered parking lots, graffiti, broken fences, overgrown landscaping and poor lighting.

Remove graffiti promptly Remove graffiti from your business as soon as possible.

Graffiti-proof your business Incorporate shrubs, thorny plants, and vines to restrict vandal access. Use fences, controlled entrance and exits, rails, and other barriers. Move dumpsters away from walls and cover drainpipes to prevent roof access. Plant vegetation against solid surfaces. Use highly-textured or uneven materials for solid surfaces. Limit the amount of solid surface by using mesh, grilles or lattice. Install some type of security camera. Add or improve lighting around the building to promote natural surveillance. Organize a “Business Watch” with nearby merchants to keep tabs on a business area. Employ graffiti resistant materials or coatings on a chronically hit wall.

Involve the community Ask a community group or professional artist to apply a mural to your premises. Print graffiti prevention messages on bags, sales flyers, tray liners, book covers, calendars, and other promotional items. Work with other merchants to organize and contribute to a “paint bank..” Paints, rollers, brushes, and other equipment from the bank are “borrowed” as needed. Ensure safe and environmentally appropriate storage of paint.