FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

January 17, 2013

Press Contact: Rachel Gordon, DPW, 415-554-6045

GRAFFITI FIGHTERS DECLARE ‘CALL TO ACTION' 

Three-day conference convenes to tackle tagging

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco’s Graffiti Advisory Board, SF Beautiful and the Bay Area nonprofit Stop Urban Blight are joining forces this week to host the Zero Graffiti International Conference 2013 and declare a call to action to eradicate the blight of graffiti vandalism.

More than 150 graffiti fighters are gathering to offer ideas and share tested means to fight graffiti through public education, community involvement, the arts and the criminal justice system. The three-day conference, held at The Event Center at St. Mary's Cathedral, ends Friday.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, District 5 Supervisor London Breed, District Attorney George Gasçon and Police Chief Greg Suhr teamed up with conference organizers, community leaders and other government officials to offer their support in the fight against graffiti.

"Graffiti blight tarnishes every neighborhood and costs us millions of dollars a year in eradication expenses -- money that now is unavailable for schools, health care, transit improvements and other essential services," Chiu said. "Together, we -- residents, businesses, community groups, law enforcement and government officials -- must commit to tackle this insidious problem."

At the conference, keynote speakers and workshop participants are addressing a variety of topics, including the rise of hip-hop graffiti; the use of technology to report and track graffiti; the role of restorative justice programs in deterring graffiti; ways to involve the community; and effective criminal justice and legislative tools to prevent graffiti and to hold offenders accountable.

“This is a call to action," said San Francisco Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. "DPW is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to get ahead of the graffiti challenges in the City, and partnering in this conference really steps up the public conversation

on ending the costly vandalism. Public engagement is key, and that means arming the public with knowledge and resources needed to confront the ongoing challenge.”

Added Gasçon, “Graffiti vandalism is a drain on our City's resources, impacting our neighborhoods and quality of life. We ask the public to help out by reporting graffiti crime.”

The District Attorney noted that San Francisco offers $250 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals.

Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, said now is the time to act.

“The Recreation and Park Department is forced to spend nearly $1.5 million annually to abate the more than 17,000 reported incidents of graffiti in our parks each year,” Ginsburg said. “We’re excited to be a part of a citywide effort to find real solutions that will wipe out graffiti and other forms of vandalism.”

All told, San Francisco city agencies and private property owners spend more than $20 million a year eradicating graffiti. Add in other cities, and the cost balloons.

The central goal of the conference is to create a worldwide network of municipalities, neighborhood associations and businesses to share ideas and experiences that can help eradicate graffiti vandalism, recruit new graffiti fighters, and ultimately reduce costs associated with the unwanted tagging.

Drew Linder, chairman of the regional advocacy group, Stop Urban Blight, said, “We are honored to partner with the City and County of San Francisco, SF Beautiful and the Graffiti Advisory Board to host this first annual Zero Graffiti International Conference. We appreciate their ongoing commitment to eliminate graffiti vandalism.”

Additional resources: 

Zero Graffiti International Conference 2013: zerograffiti.org

DPW anti-graffiti programs: sfdpw.org/graffiti 

Stop Urban Blight: stopub.org

SF Beautiful: sfbeautiful.org