DAYTON -- Fighting back against graffiti in the city.
Dayton Public Works Director, Fred Stovall, says the city spends $50,000 a year to remove graffiti.
There is only one man hired by the city to remove the graffiti.
Last year, Josepf removed 16,004 tags all by himself.
Dayton Police say graffiti activity is usually more prevalent on the east side of the city, but, is now popping up more around the west side.
Lieutenant Andrew Booher says the east side division has not found a direct link to crime, he says there are several different categories of taggers.
Booher says many times the art is put on visible buildings because artists want their work to be seen. However, he adds that as tagging occurs in lower income neighborhoods, it makes the areas seem run down, which can create an atmosphere for vandalism and destruction to structures.
Police tell us they have noticed a mural along Wayne Avenue and Buckeye that has seem to have stopped graffiti from reoccurring constantly.
And, authorities say that's because artists won't paint over other people's work.
As the weather gets warmer, each month the city is having to remove more tags. Just last month 1,200 tags were removed inside city walls.
UpDayton has come up with another crime-fighting solution. UpDayton put chalk boards on the side of Miami Valley Mower, which will hopefully defer artists from spraying graffiti.
Dayton Public Works Director, Fred Stovall, says the city spends $50,000 a year to remove graffiti.
There is only one man hired by the city to remove the graffiti.
Last year, Josepf removed 16,004 tags all by himself.
Dayton Police say graffiti activity is usually more prevalent on the east side of the city, but, is now popping up more around the west side.
Lieutenant Andrew Booher says the east side division has not found a direct link to crime, he says there are several different categories of taggers.
Booher says many times the art is put on visible buildings because artists want their work to be seen. However, he adds that as tagging occurs in lower income neighborhoods, it makes the areas seem run down, which can create an atmosphere for vandalism and destruction to structures.
Police tell us they have noticed a mural along Wayne Avenue and Buckeye that has seem to have stopped graffiti from reoccurring constantly.
And, authorities say that's because artists won't paint over other people's work.
As the weather gets warmer, each month the city is having to remove more tags. Just last month 1,200 tags were removed inside city walls.
UpDayton has come up with another crime-fighting solution. UpDayton put chalk boards on the side of Miami Valley Mower, which will hopefully defer artists from spraying graffiti.