$500 Rewards Offered for Leads to Graffiti Vandals

In an effort to stop graffiti vandalism, the City Council has established a reward for people who report offenders and aid in their conviction.

People will receive $500 if the information they report leads to the conviction of an offender. Some council members offered to donate money to the reward fund, but instead the council this week voted 4 to 0 to take $1,000 from general fund reserves to start the program.

The city in the future might seek donations from the business community and residents to help support the program.

Councilman David John Shawver, who initiated the reward program, said it is needed because “graffiti is out of control in the city. We can’t even stay ahead of it with a paintbrush.”

City Manager Terry Matz said the city spends about $24,000 a year to remove graffiti from public property and other locations.

“Our focus is to remove graffiti as soon as possible,” Matz said, adding that the city also has a hotline for people to report graffiti and an ordinance to push private property owners to remove graffiti.

Councilman Sal Sapien, while supportive of the program, expressed concerns that the reward might not work since some people might be afraid to turn in violators or testify against them.

But Shawver said it isn’t fair to the community that certain individuals mar property with graffiti and get away with it.

Through the reward program, Shawver said, “hopefully we’ll get some people out there helping us. . . . It’s time we took the streets back, the walls back and the businesses back.”