Residents may assume that the City automatically knows when graffiti pops up because it is usually taken down very quickly, but the City misses hearing from its residents and depends upon those calls and texts to know where the graffiti is located.

“The number of graffiti clean-up requests has dropped dramatically in recent months.  While residents tell us they don’t report graffiti because they assume we already know where it’s at, it simply is not the case.  We continue to depend upon our residents to be the eyes and ears of the City, and we want to hear from the community,” commented Nico Marinelli, Graffiti Removal Coordinator for the City.

The City wants to encourage community members to keep an eye out in the City and report graffiti whenever they can by calling utilizing the City’s on-line request system, eService.  Specific requests to report graffiti for removal can be made via the City’s website at www.santa-clarita.com/reportgraffiti or through your smartphone by utilizing Santa Clarita’s eService iPhone or Android App.

In 2011, the City’s Graffiti Task Force celebrated a banner year, with 169 arrests and more than 6,333 tags removed from Santa Clarita streets. So far in 2012, graffiti removal staff has removed over 1,500 tags throughout the City, but has only received 500 removal requests.

“The City is very grateful to our local partners who work with us to help keep Santa Clarita graffiti-free, including the City’s residents, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, William S. Hart School District, CHP and College of the Canyons.  We need to continue working together to keep our community looking great,” commented Mayor Laurie Ender.

This app is available via iTunes or Google Play app store via the keyword search “Santa Clarita eService.”  Residents offering information that leads to the conviction of a tagger can receive up to $500 per conviction.