Graffiti Tracker

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

In the San Diego County Multi-Discipline Graffiti Abatement Program’s first year, prosecutions enabled court ordered restitutions for graffiti cases to rise from $170,626 in 2010 to $783,412 in 2011. Participating agencies widely report an increased ability to track, prosecute and recover costs for graffiti while reducing the number of law enforcement hours spent on the task. Spearheaded by San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox, the program uses a Web-based program called “Graffiti Tracker” and GPS-enabled cameras to document graffiti and identify and convict the most prolific vandals in a coordinated effort. Participants include 13 public agencies representing the region’s unincorporated areas, mass transit systems and 18 cities. The program allows police and prosecutors to link dozens or even hundreds of graffiti acts to a single tagger—even if he crosses jurisdictional boundaries. The relatively low-cost program has the potential to deter millions of dollars in vandalism as young taggers learn they will be caught, prosecuted and billed for the destruction they wreak on communities.