Get tough with graffiti

The BBIA periodically organizes a business and community Graffiti Clean-up, meanwhile, please use the following resources to learn what graffiti is, what the City plans to do about it and how businesses and residents can fight graffiti right now.

• Report on Graffiti to Emergency and Protective Services Committee, June 8, 2006
• Graffiti Management Strategy: PowerPoint presentation
• Ottawa Police Services Pamphlet on Graffiti for Parents and Property Owners

The Emergency and Protective Services Committee has endorsed an enhanced Graffiti Management Strategy to counteract shortfalls in the City's current strategy:

• The City's efforts are focused mostly on public property, at a cost of nearly $500,000 a year
• Graffiti falls under several bylaws governing property standards, parks and facilities, fences, roads and encroachment.
• Residents and business owners are actually discouraged from reporting graffiti because the city issues an "order to comply" that may be costly.
• Residents reporting graffiti to the city's Call Centre may face long wait times or operators not trained to deal with graffiti calls.
• There are no incentives for residents or businesses to report graffiti.

City staff are continually studying best practices from other cities to control graffiti, such as a graffiti hot line, a comprehensive graffiti bylaw, free paint and removal tools for residents and businesses, designated spaces for graffiti and public education campaigns.

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