A number of cars were hit with racist graffiti in northwest Reno, Nevada on Monday.  The victims of the attack reacted with shock, sadness and anger.

This graffiti was clearly not street art.  This was vandalism intended to cause damage. Orange spray paint was found on car windows, doors, roofs, and hoods. 

Offensive racial language elevated this graffiti attack to one that was motivated by ugly racist prejudice. 

Clean City Pro Green Label Graffiti Remover is an ideal tool to reverse graffiti spray paint on cars including windows, doors, roofs, bumpers and hoods.  Simply spray Clean City Pro Green Label Graffiti Remover onto the tag and allow a short 30 second to 60 second dwell time.  Use a soft rag or non-scratch sponge to catch any drips and keep graffiti remover on the graffiti spray paint.  As soon as graffiti tags starts to soften, bubble, or run, wipe clean with a dry absorbent rag.  Repeat as necessary until the tag is gone. 
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The spray paint graffiti tag should be easy to clean from the windows.  A razor blade can be used to accelerate the cleaning speed.  Use caution to prevent the graffiti remover from coming into contact with the rubber seals.  Also, resist the natural temptation to scrub.  Elbow grease will likely remove both the graffiti spray paint but also begin to remove the original paint and mar the finish.  Let the graffiti remover do the work and wipe as soon as the graffiti spray paint is broken.  

​Graffiti is a gateway crime. Individuals who start breaking minor laws like graffiti and petty theft often end up committing more serious crimes, especially in communities with high amounts of gang activity and graffiti tagging. Graffiti is the "canary in the coal mine" for criminals to test how effective community policing is at preventing criminality. Additionally, Ggraffiti creates a visually blighted environment which sends the message that that crime tolerated which encourages further crime and disorder and discourages home owners and business owners from reinvesting in their community.

Approximately 80% of graffiti is “graffiti tagging”.  Tagging is essentially the street name of a graffiti tagger and is indented to show off to friends. These tags are often small, single color and include the tagger's street nickname. The bigger and more brazen the graffiti tag, the more street credibility the graffiti tagger gets.  The sooner the graffiti tag is removed, the better.  Ideally graffiti tags should be removed with 24 to 48 hours to discourage further graffiti tags.

Approximately 10% of graffiti is gang related, often designed to claim territority for drug sales and other illegal activities from rival gangs. These tags are often black spray paint, have large symbols, and are located on corner buildings. 

The remaining 10% of graffiti are street art.  Street art is not harmful.  Most street art requires skill and is intended to create visual interest on the street.  Street art often takes the form of stickers or small scale murals.  Street art is is typically not found on sensitive private property and is more likely found on public property such as street signs and semi-public property such as newspaper boxes.  

Graffiti tags and gang-graffiti should be removed as quickly as possible.  Street art does not need to be removed.  Clean City Pro graffiti removers are fast and effective graffiti removal tools that can help speed the removal of graffiti tags and gang-graffiti.  Please visit the graffiti removal product selection guide at www.CleanCityPro.com to find the best graffiti remover for your unique graffiti tag.

The City of Tallahassee Florida is implementing measures to fight back against the blight of graffiti. The City Council approved ordinances for city inspectors to issue violations and fines to property owners who fail to remove graffiti after being notified.

The City of Tallahassee Florida Graffiti Abatement Plan will be a pilot program will go into effect in October of 2019. Using a code enforcement process, Tallahassee will work with property owners on getting rid of graffiti.

Painting over graffiti is one option for homeowners, but graffiti removal using a soy-based graffiti removal solvent like Clean City Pro Green Label is another great option to allow residents a fast, easy and effective graffiti removal tool.  Homeowners are victims of graffiti tagging.  They should be given the tools and training to fix the problem when it occurs.

​New strategy for discouraging graffiti: Ohio judge orders graffiti tagger to use toothbrush instead of paint brush as part of sentence.

After being caught for spray painting graffiti on a railroad caboose, Judge Michael Cicconetti gave the graffiti tagger a choice.

Option 1: 10 days in jail

or 

Option 2: Paint railings with a toothbrush. The toothbrush required hours of effort while a paint brush could have completed the job in minutes.  

When asked about this creative sentsense, Chief Probation Officer Dave Washlock said, “Somebody will think twice. Maybe they’re gonna vandalize or paint something else. The message is here. You’re caught in this court’s jurisdiction, this could be you.”