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| Graffiti-Off Program |
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| Graffiti-Off Program | ||
| Introduction | Graffiti Removal Services | Reporting Graffiti | City/County Department Partnerships | Graffiti Laws | ||
 Graffiti is a crime! Graffiti is the willful defacement of another person's property with any marking instrument, including felt pens, cans of spray paint, ballpoint pens, or knives. Neighborhood graffiti decreases property values, intimidates residents, and increases their fear of crime. It also attracts more gang activities and other types of criminal offenses. This rapidly growing crime in Kern County presents an on-going challenge for our local governing board and law enforcement officials. Since the inception of the Graffiti-Off program in August 2000, the hard working staff has cleaned more than 13,000 sites totaling over 675,000 square feet. Back to Top
Free Graffiti Removal Available: The County of Kern and the City of Bakersfield offer free graffiti removal. The home or business owner may provide the paint. Request Free Graffiti Removal Adopt-A-Wall program: The County has an Adopt-A-Wall program that allows interested residents to keep a given area clean. The County will provide the needed supplies free of charge and will deliver these supplies to the resident's home. Sign up for the program Additional information: The County owns two state-of-the-art spectrophotometers (paint-matching machines) that will allow the painters to produce an exact color match for any wall being painted. If the surface cannot be painted - e.g., brick, rock, natural wood, etc. - a power washer may be used to remove the graffiti, or, in the case of street signs a chemical wash is applied. (In these cases, a perfect color match is not always possible.) The Graffiti-Off team also records the tag with a digital photograph of the offense. This photograph may be used as evidence in the restitution process after apprehension of the vandal. Back to Top
The Graffiti-Off team's slogan is: "C" IT - REPORT IT". It is hoped that the community will adopt our slogan and become a part of the solution to the problem. With a combined effort we will reduce the effects of graffiti vandalism and help Keep Kern County Clean. Report graffiti Back to Top
The City of Bakersfield Graffiti team and the County Graffiti -off program have implemented a central "graffiti hot line" phone number to make it easy for residents of our community to report graffiti. Hot line number: (661) 32-ERASE or (661) 323-7273 The Graffiti-Off program also works with the County Roads department helping abate graffiti from county road signs. Note: The program does not provide graffiti removal from County buildings or parks. The Maintenance department of the County is responsible for the upkeep of all county buildings and the Parks departments' responsibilities include the upkeep and paint for all county park facilities. Back to Top
Graffiti is against the law. Graffiti is costly and destructive and sends a message that the community is not concerned about this crime. In 2004, $9,000,000,000 was spent across the United States cleaning up this crime and in 2005 it is expected to cost taxpayers $13,000,000,000. It (graffiti) is the newspaper of the streets for gang members and taggers, lowering property values and bringing fear into our neighborhoods. Graffiti Supplies: It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase spray paint. Any person under the age of 18 caught with marking pens, spray paint cans, or tips may be arrested. It is also illegal to sell spray paint to anyone under the age of 18. All spray paint is to be kept behind locked doors. Back to Top |
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Last Modified 8/10/2010 |
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