Graffiti Services

Starting in May 2005, Victoria Crossing will be participating in a BRZ Graffiti Removal project, working with four other BRZs (Calgary Downtown Association, 4th Street, Kensington and Uptown 17) to manage a graffiti removal team for the summer. Last year, this program was run through the City of Calgary's Graffiti Awareness and Abatement Program (GAAP), and this year the funding has been passed to the BRZs to run their own program. The team will consist of one team lead and 3 team members, working from May 9-September 2, recording, reporting and removing graffiti in the respective BRZ areas. The team will spend one day per week in each BRZ area (Mondays in Victoria Crossing). Each team member will receive intensive training from St. John's Ambulance (first aid/CPR), Calgary Police Service and Bylaw Services, to ensure their efficiency in tackling the graffiti problem in Calgary's Central City areas. Look for our BRZ Graffiti Removal Team once a week throughout the summer.

The following is a notice from the City of Calgary's Bylaw Services Graffiti Unit.

Bugged about graffiti? You CAN make a difference!

Tired of seeing writing, drawing, spray painting or other forms of defacing on walls, fences, mail boxes, utility poles, signes, or public property in your community? Or have you personally been devastated by profane, offensive, hateful or discriminatory messages placed on your private property? Whatever your experience has been with graffiti, you know that it hurts everyone in the community. The good news is, there are steps individuals can take to control the spread of graffiti and to send a clear message to graffiti vandals that damaging property is unacceptable to Calgarians.

The first step in being proactive against graffiti is recognizing that this defacing of public and private property, done without consent from the property owner, is vandalism and therefore, a crime. It is not art. Graffiti vandals create graffiti for personal recognition so it is frequently placed in areas where it is visible to everyone. The effect of graffiti is felt by everyone: from the frustrated property owner who is faced with the cost and task of cleaning up the graffiti to the citizen who is frightened to walk within their community because of the hateful messages sprayed everywhere. As Calgarians, graffiti affects all of us because it gives a perception that our city is unsafe, that we are not committed to the upkeep and care of our city and it becomes an unattractive place for outsiders to visit, conduct business or invest.

How can you help the Graffiti Section of the City of Calgary Bylaw Services? It is as simple as remembering the three R's of Graffiti Removal and Prevention: Record, Report and Remove.

Record
When you see graffiti in your community or city, please record the following information:
- The location: An address and the geographic location (i.e. north west corner of Stoney Tr. NW and 16th Ave. NW)
- Type of structure and substrate: Examples are: a "metal" street lamp, residential "wooden" backyard fence, or a "cement" overpass on a bridge. Please note that most bridges have a metal locater plate with a bridge locater number on it.
- Type of graffiti: The colour, size (i.e. 2 ft. x 3 ft.) and content (i.e. hate, racist information, sexual content, personal information about someone, political, or threat oriented information.)
If you are able, please take a picture and send it to us, as this helps with enforcement.

Report
Report the above recorded information:
- By phoning 268-CITY (2489)
- On the internet at www.calgary.ca (search "report graffiti")
- Mail to "Graffiti Unit" #8019, Bylaw Services, City of Calgary, PO Box 2100, Station M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2M5

Remove
Graffiti on your property:
The most effective way to control graffiti is to remove it from your property immediately or within 24 to 48 hours maximum. This is crucial because the longer the graffiti remains on property, the more likely additional graffiti will occur in new, nearby sites. Graffiti vandals will continue to spread graffiti if it goes unchallenged. Above all, do not get discouraged because you may need to remove graffiti multiple times before it stops.

If you need assistance, the Graffiti Section of Bylaw Services can help you. We have free, non-colour matched latex paint for graffiti removal purposes. We recommend chemical removal or paint over of the graffiti only if the surface temperature is 0 degrees Celsius or warmer. For removal information, please contact Sandy MacDuff at 974-1099 or visit our website at www.calgary.ca (search "graffiti").

The City of Calgary has a Removal Program with ICI Glidden or Cloverleaf stores, where you can purchase colour-matched paint at a discounted price.

Graffiti on someone else's property or public property:
Please follow the first two steps of record and report. Please do not remove the graffiti yourself. Once a report has been logged, it will be dispatched for follow up action by Bylaw Services (and Calgary Police Services if the vandalism is over $5000.00 or includes gang-related content).

Let's take action and get bugged about graffiti. By recording, reporting and removing graffiti, we are showing graffiti vandals that Calgarians will not tolerate graffiti. By working together to combat graffiti, we can continue to be proud of Calgary and our safe, beautiful communities.

For more information:
Visit our website www.calgary.ca (search "graffiti")
or phone 268-CITY (2489).