24-Hour Hotline Available to Report Illegal Signs
Los Angeles residents frustrated by illegal signs in their neighborhoods can call a new hotline linked to inspectors, local prosecutors and work crews available to remove the material.
Operated by the city’s Bureau of Street Services, the hotline at (800) 996-CITY is available 24 hours a day. The goal of the program is to start an investigation within 24 hours of a complaint and have either California Youth Authority or county probation department crews remove the illegal signs as soon as possible, officials said.
After an investigation, cases will be forwarded to the city attorney for prosecution.
Since 1990, more than 500,000 illegal signs have been posted throughout Los Angeles. In the last several months alone, the city attorney’s office in Van Nuys has handled 18 illegal-sign cases, with six resulting in defendants being sentenced to 15 to 45 days on Caltrans freeway cleanup crews. The remaining cases were resolved through city attorney office hearings.
Last year, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) sponsored legislation allowing officials to prosecute businesses identified in signs posted illegally.
“People who post illegal signs aren’t much different from taggers who spray paint graffiti--they both create an eyesore for someone else to clean up,” Hertzberg said in a statement.
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