CATHEDRAL CITY – Graffiti artists were working overtime this past weekend, vandalizing property at their leisure – and no doubt with great delight.
But as soon as it cropped up, residents and at least one City Councilmember, Mark Carnevale, were at the ready to get it erased. Letting it linger implies no one cares. That is not the message Cathedral City wants to send and has a zero-tolerance policy for vandals’ signatures.
Daniel Madden captured at least three areas in the community where vandals left their mark.
“I see it all around the Cove,” he told Uken Report. “The city does a good job of removing it there – quick.”
Graffiti is the most common type of property vandalism (35%) according to the Bureau of Justice statistics.
The most effective way to prevent the unsightly scrawls is to remove it promptly. Studies show that removal within 24-48 hours results in a nearly zero rate of recurrence.
That is exactly what the city aims to do.
In September 2015, the City Council approved an abatement service with Graffiti Protective Coatings (GPC), a company that serves more than 1,000 municipalities, government agencies and private clients. GPC’s technique leaves virtually no trace of past vandalism and provides a minimum 98 percent color match guarantee of the original color.
GPC offers a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week response to any reported graffiti. They will also provide a 60-minute or less response time to emergencies.
You may report graffiti by calling the city’s graffiti hotline at (760) 770-8286 or through the GORequest app on your smartphone. The GORequest app will automatically detect your location and you simply tap on the issue, provide a picture or message if you like, and then hit send.
Other cities that have utilized this service notice over time a significant reduction in tagging as the company covers the graffiti within 24 hours.
There becomes no incentive to tag if the object is covered almost instantly. However, the city needs residents to help alert it of where the tagging occurs as soon as you notice it.
Cathedral City code requires that all surfaces including, but not limited to, buildings, walls, parking lots, signs, fences, and dumpsters must be kept graffiti free and that graffiti be removed from any surface within forty-eight (48) hours.
Graffiti is a crime.
Cathedral City has its own Graffiti Hotline – 770-8286
If you see someone painting or drawing call 9-1-1. Give the location and description of the person committing the crime. Your anonymous call will help the Police Dept. and keep your neighborhood crime free.
Call the Hotline to report the painting/drawing. This is a Voicemail System checked throughout the day.
Call the Hotline to report painting/drawing on private property—walls, fences, buildings, but not homes. Give the street location, corner or address of the site. Please leave your phone number so we may contact you if we have questions. Your number is for internal use only to be in contact with you.
Graffiti on public property: street signs, sidewalks, utility boxes and City buildings -call the Public Works Dept. at 770-0390.
