APD devises rapid-response plan to fight graffiti in city

The Athens Police Department has a new plan to battle graffiti throughout the city by using court-ordered community service workers to clean up the tagging.

APD graffiti investigator Ron Brooks said Friday that he has kept track of graffiti around town for several years, and that complaints from community members and business owners are on the rise.

"Since I've been keeping track of it over the years, most of the complaints started getting filtered to me," Brooks said. "I was asked by the city for a good way to clean some of this up."

So Brooks came up with a plan to establish a fund for the donation of monies to go toward the purchase of supplies and rental of equipment needed to clean up the town.

Brooks is asking businesses and community members to make a donation to the fund to purchase these supplies.

He sent a letter to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce asking for a $10 donation from each of the member organizations.

"With more than 400 members, this would generate enough money to get the equipment and supplies we need to get this project up and running as soon as the weather permits," Brooks wrote in his letter.

The incidence of graffiti has increased particularly in the uptown area in recent years, Brooks told the chamber.

"One way to help combat this problem is to clean off the graffiti as soon as it is put up," he wrote. "In order to help with this we are implementing a program of using community services workers from the Athens County Municipal Court. In other words, the labor cost will be zero."

Brooks did not have any official figures for how much graffiti has been found in the city. He guessed that it would cost several thousands of dollars to clean up.

"Particularly in the past year, I don't know if it's increasing or property owners are just giving up trying to clean off what's there... and people come through and add to it," he said. "So it looks like there's more. But I think it's partly that property owners have just given up."

Brooks encouraged all members of the community to contribute to the graffiti fund.

"Anybody in the public who wants to donate can send a check here," Brooks said. "Just address the envelope to me and make the check out to the city of Athens. And we've got a special fund set up."

Brooks said that the graffiti can be cleaned in several ways, including painting over it and buying a biodegradable solution that helps dissolve the spray paint.

"We want to try to clean it off first, and if we can't then we can always paint over it depending on where it is," he said.

With all of the porous brick in Athens, sometimes the solution doesn't do the trick itself, Brooks said. But the instructions for the solution say that if it's left to sit and then sprayed with a power-washer, it will remove the graffiti.

"That's why I eventually want to get a power-washer," he said.

He estimated that the power-washer would cost around $400 and would be a one-time purchase.

Other expenses for the project include materials and safety equipment, he said. This includes goggles, rubber gloves, masks, orange safety vests, paint, the solution, buckets and wire brushes.

With 400 donations of $10 or more, he said, the APD would have plenty of money to purchase supplies that would probably last the whole year.

Brooks pointed out that all donations are tax-deductible.

Wendy Jakmas, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said that she thinks it's a great idea to get a graffiti fund going.

"The vandalism just takes away and detracts from the beauty of our area," she said.

Currently, the chamber is in the process of trying to secure some grant monies for the fund, Jakmas said.

"I think it's a community thing; it's all over Athens," she said. "I think this could be a huge project for the community to come together. Even student philanthropic organizations at Ohio University, they do some fundraising themselves."

She praised Brooks' idea to use community service workers. "I'm hoping that the community will get behind this," she said.

Donation checks can be made out to the city of Athens with "Graffiti fund" written on the memo line, Brooks said. They can be either dropped off or mailed to the APD c/o Ron Brooks at 11 N. College St., Athens, OH 45701.

Brooks said that those with questions can e-mail him at rbrooks@ci.athens.oh.us.