Graffiti cleanup takes a big chunk out of municipal budgets. The city of San Jose spends about $3 million a year fighting graffiti, Minneapolis, MN about $4 million, and $2 million in Portland, OR.
Graffiti is the most common type of property vandalism (35%) according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Immediate removal - within 24-48 hours - is the key to successful graffiti prevention.
There are four types of graffiti-hip-hop, gang, hate, and generic (non-threatening messages like "Bobby loves Suzy" or "Class of 2003").
About 80% of graffiti is hip hop or "tagger" graffiti. Another 5% are "pieces". Nationally, gang graffiti makes up about 10% of graffiti.
Most studies show the majority of "taggers" are males between 12 and 21 years old. Approximately 15% of graffiti vandals are young females.
Arrest data from 17 major cities shows that 50% to 70% of all street-level graffiti is created by suburban adolescents, predominately males between the ages of 12 and 19.
Community paint-brush murals are rarely defaced by graffiti and instill a sense of pride among those who live nearby.
There are four primary motivating factors for graffiti vandalism: fame, rebellion, self-expression, and power.
Getting the media to publish photos and videotape of graffiti is often the ultimate fame for graffiti vandals.
