Cities turning to technology to combat graffiti

Reuters reports that cities in the U.S. are increasingly turning to high-tech tools to go after those spreading graffiti across town, although the systems being used aren't exactly as complex as you might think. One such system, from Los Angeles-based Graffiti Tracker, simply employs a digital camera with a built-in GPS tagging feature, which is used to snap a picture of and record the location of a piece of graffiti before it gets painted over. The graffiti then get analyzed and added to a database, which police can use to track those creating it and use as evidence in cases against them. While that simplicity has apparently proven to be effective so far, we can't help but think that the cities would benefit even further by putting some graffiti-patrolling policebots on the street to catch 'em in the act -- but we're sure that's only a matter of time.

[Photo courtesy of Reuters]

[strider_mt2k @ May 31st 2007 7:50AM]

In the ultimate irony, the Police-bot will be covered in sponsor logos.

[stitifier @ May 31st 2007 8:22AM]

Or we could, you know, try to crack down on the fundamental reasons for urban crime: poor education, few economic choices, inadequate after-school activities, and, um, just not enough police. It's nice to know that technology's got an answer to graffiti but it'd be nice if people could embrace simple changes as readily as they did these "magical" solutions.

Well, sorry about the rant. But anyway, this piece of tech does seem both simple enough to implement and useful enough to conisder using.

[FrankTheCrank @ May 31st 2007 8:37AM]

I'm with Stitifier...

Why don't you spend the money elsewhere and figure out why these kids are tagging everything. Obviously, the lack of respect for someone else's private property is a form of out lash towards society.

Legalize weed now!

[Rick Lyon @ May 31st 2007 8:37AM]

stiffler- Wrong. I used to do graffiti and education, family income and everything else that you mentioned did not apply to myself along with many of my friends. One solution that was successfully employed down there was they coated many surfaces with an oily substance. Markers simply beaded up and spray paint would wipe off. They also used many other tactics and eventually most grow up. Graffiti has definitely been on the decline the past decade, even in Orlando, you just don't see it with minor exceptions. Big cities with bustling down towns might still face the issue, I'm just surprised it's still an issue because with game consoles, internet, cell phones, cars, etc, there is just so many more entertaining things to do and vent with.

[fashionista @ May 31st 2007 10:01AM]

Orlando? Uh, you were just being a dipshit imitating the urban underclass because you wanted to be cool. Grafitti is definitely a problem here in NYC, and not because of rich kids trying to be fashionable.

[stitifier @ May 31st 2007 12:48PM]

"stiffler- Wrong. I used to do graffiti and education, family income and everything else that you mentioned did not apply to myself along with many of my friends."

So, just because you were a slightly better-off and better-educated scofflaw dickwad means that I'm wrong? Certainly, there's no controlling for sheer all-out dickwad-ness, which no doubt abounds in suburbia, and certainly in Florida, but I would argue-- and I think most would agree-- that urban crime like graffiti largely occurs in (get this!) urban areas. Urban areas that are, largely, poorer, uneducated, and otherwise deprived of the social resources you enjoyed but apparently ignored.

"One solution that was successfully employed down there was they coated many surfaces with an oily substance. Markers simply beaded up and spray paint would wipe off. They also used many other tactics and eventually most grow up."

The problem is, Rick, that other prepubescent dickwads grow up to become teenage dickwads who then take the place of the post-pubescent dickwads, who themselves have discovered that graffiti, while a gratifying form of urban art, doesn't pay very well, and the grants are hard to come by.

"Big cities with bustling down towns might still face the issue, I'm just surprised it's still an issue because with game consoles, internet, cell phones, cars, etc, there is just so many more entertaining things to do and vent with."

Because, genius, it's because those "big bustling down towns" in those big cities are filled with-- get this-- poor people with no education and no options. So they join gangs and deal drugs and learn to survive in the only ways they know how. It may shock you to realize that graffiti is connected with this brand of crime. Surely by addressing the root causes of this crime would be productive, no? Or should we just hope the drug dealers and their buddies just "grow out of it?"

[Rynth @ May 31st 2007 8:54AM]

Graffiti has two types - Chav drawl and Awesome art.

The awesome art bit is acceptable, by my standards - chav drawl - isn't.

Kill the Chav's its the only way forward!

For you american types, just look up "Chav" on wikipedia.

[Dan @ May 31st 2007 9:14AM]

You guys make me laugh. You're talking about somehow short-circuiting a young developing human's desire and nature to have effect on his/her world. Peer pressure is still a stupid but serious effect, folks. We need lots more police, well paid teachers and cameras. Hey - you want a real challenge? Come up with a way to severely discourage the Boom cars/Rolling thumpers. They're damaging folks' health. That's no lie. Google about HI/LF (high intensity/low frequency). Here's Your chance to have a really good effect on your world. Save the day...go ahead!

[Yaktastic @ May 31st 2007 9:02AM]

What about that crazy zapper thing that was in "Demolition Man" ... i know that somewhere, someone is developing the tech from that movie... including the three shells.

[james.engadget @ May 31st 2007 9:59AM]

Call me slightly unimpressed. All you need is a GPS-enabled digital camera. Not some company.

Or, my low-tech approach:
http://federalwaygraffiti.blogspot.com/

[Je2037 @ May 31st 2007 10:01AM]

territory/gang related graffiti ruins it all for the rest of us who would like to see some artwork. the designs of public places have become so sterile that a little guerrilla artwork is welcome in my opinion.

[Moby Disk @ May 31st 2007 10:12AM]

We just need to write "sucks" underneath of their names whenever they tag somehting.

[fashionista @ May 31st 2007 10:52AM]

"I used to do graffiti and education, family income and everything else that you mentioned did not apply to myself along with many of my friends"
*yawn* you are boring.

[Rick Lyon @ May 31st 2007 10:58AM]

in contrast to your exciting nature?

[fashionista @ May 31st 2007 10:57AM]

"I used to do graffiti and education, family income and everything else that you mentioned did not apply to myself along with many of my friends"
*yawn* You are boring.

[Jeff @ May 31st 2007 11:13AM]

My town just fines the property owner if the graffiti is up longer than 24 hours, essentially says "it's your problem" while profiting off the business owner's building being defaced.

my own is retarded.

[Jeff @ May 31st 2007 11:13AM]

My town just fines the property owner if the graffiti is up longer than 24 hours, essentially says "it's your problem" while profiting off the business owner's building being defaced.

my town is retarded.

[molly @ May 31st 2007 11:17AM]

I think it might be really nice if appertures were embedded in the highest hit spots, and behind them mace..to react when the chemical make up of paint hits the surface..out would shoot the mace and the "artist" would be stopped freaking dead. as far as figuring out why the taggers do it>..please!
they do it because they are distructive little crappers who dont care about anyone but themselves and what they want, noone elses feeling matter and sonce they HAVE no jobs and dont have to pay to clean up their so called art, they dont give a flying leap at the moon about how we feel about it.

[Krave Art @ May 31st 2007 12:25PM]

Actually,
you all will never be able to stop graffiti. The second you come up with something to fight it, there will be a new idea on how to get past it.
The problem is the federal government is so corrupted that focusing on these minor problems are more a diversion than anything else. The masses would rather focus on small crimes than the gigantic ones members of our government are commiting.
-Krave

[johnzilla @ May 31st 2007 12:37PM]

Stop letting people have kids that they don't plan to (or want to) parent and support adequately, and the problem goes away. Eventually.

[Rick Lyon @ May 31st 2007 1:13PM]

Well, I guess dickwads such as yourself have never been out to Miami suburbs,. which by the way, is 90% of what makes up Miami. NY has a downtown where people live, Miami, Orlando and other cities don't. Which, dickwad, means most of the city's populations comes from, get this dickwad, the suburbs!

As far as the aspiring artists who blossom from such art, you are again, wrong. I, myself, am a successful web designer/ graphics designer and illustrator. So, the graffiti was merely a step in my artistic development as well as my maturation. Though, I would not to expect such a immature post-pubescent dickwad to understand that there are a ton of cities in which suburbs, rural country has good, bad, rich, poor, educated and uneducated mixed together.

So genius, only poor people or those with no education graffiti? Again, your ignorance glaringly displays that you have never traveled beyond the boundaries of your current city. Miami is not NY, or Baltimore or Philly, which may back up your experience, but I'm not speaking about those cities. I speak from my experience.

It does not shock me that graffiti is connected to crime or gangs, as I was associated to one. Duh, I thought I mostly spelled that out previously. And yes, I got out of it, duh. And a few of my drug dealing friends did as well. We grow up. We get jobs, we move out of the house, because we don't live in buildings downtown, we live in the suburbs which is what primarily comprise Miami and Homestead and surround south Florida areas.

So you may continue to speak on your research into NY graffiti and I will continue to speak from experience growing up in Miami.

[stitifier @ May 31st 2007 3:09PM]

All I gotta say is... look at the comments ratings.

This conversation with you is so very... meh. I've made my points; I'm moving on.

[Justin B @ May 31st 2007 2:33PM]

Very Cool... Unless they are covering up all the Robot graffiti that's been popping up around Portland, OR:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/504102156_d2c90d6754_b.jpg

[Rick Lyon @ May 31st 2007 4:13PM]

Ah, I'm so hurt about the ratings. You've made no points relevant to my post, and considering the subject matter I would expect to have any decent related discussion from you or anyone else for that matter. Meh right back at you, enjoy your life.

[DeadConcious @ May 31st 2007 3:36PM]

Graffiti is not only done by poor inner-city "thugs", nor has it ever. Saying that someone who does graffiti is obviously impoverished, an imitator or a loser is very narrow minded. Graffiti is becoming more accepted as a form of art and is being seen less as a destructive behavior. An example of this would be the UK artist Banksy. Instead of Banksy being hunted down and charged for stenciling his work on various surfaces, some people who paint over his work are being charged. Another thing that conflicts the idea that graffiti is all gang-related is the fact that many famous writers used graffiti as an alternative to gang life, choosing to spend time spraying paint, not bullets.
I believe that the "broken window" theory is just another flawed theory. Just because B follows A does not mean that A cause B. People who tag do not always do it to "lash out" as Frank said. Some writers use it to express themselves, as do other artists. They feel that they are not heard or just want to say something, anything. They are not necessarily jobless recluses.
Before everyone starts saying "it's a destructive behavior" look at your own actions. Have you sped recently? Drank and drove? Consumed any illegal substances? Broken any laws, minor as they may be? Look at yourself before criticizing others.

[digzasta @ May 31st 2007 7:06PM]

What I find funny about these tracking systems, is no one gives them much thought.
In Denver they are wanting to implement some type of system like this.
My question is, does it hold up in a court of law to say someone drew something and you can match styles. There are thousands of taggers out there and some with same names. I know 3 different Sok's. People bite styles all the time as well. Also, writers can write different names.
I say, go the education route. Teach the kids to stay off personal property and to think about who they might be affecting.
They are citizens as well, if they want write on the small portion that they own(public property), and some spills on to the rest, that is their business. I can't argue writing on the "man", cause the man doesn't want you to think for yourself anyways.
Graffiti will exist forever, it is a basic human instinct. Lets give the writers some ground rules and understanding of respect and at least your house will not be written on.

[Absynthe @ Jun 3rd 2007 10:30PM]

They can try and try, but graffiti will never die. Accept it.

[Jurassic @ Mar 9th 2008 3:14PM]

The UNAM, Mexico national university create a few years ago a transparent paint that allowed the graffiti to stay in the wall but it could be easily erase splashing it with some water later.
They should check that out.