Anti-Graffiti
Given Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful's (KTMB) mission of creating a cleaner, more beautiful region through education and active community involvement, the issue of Graffiti has been a longtime concern.
In the early 1990's, KTMB partnered with the City of Reno Police Department to purchase the first Anti-Graffiti Paint Wagon for this region. This vehicle is still in use by the City of Reno today, and is sent out to cover-up graffiti once it has been called in.
From 1997-2003 Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful sponsored the Graffiti Hotline. This Hotline was used by City of Reno and Washoe County residents to report graffiti. Once the graffiti was reported, the Paint Wagon was sent out to cover it up.
In July 2004, the City of Sparks developed the Graffiti Removal and Identification Program (GRIP). The GRIP program takes citizen reports of graffiti and then goes to the site, to complete a police report. If the graffiti is on private property, the owner is notified. If it is on public property, it is either painted over, or a high pressure sprayer is used to wash the graffiti out. This program is still in operation today.
For Washoe County and City of Reno residents, the City of Reno Police Department continues to use the Graffiti Paint Wagon to cover up Graffiti when the location of Graffiti is called in. The RPD is also working on developing an Adopt-A-Block program in which citizens are given the tools to cover up graffiti as soon as they see it.
What to do if you see Graffiti:
In the City of Reno or Washoe County call Reno Direct at 775.334.2099.
In the City of Sparks call the GRIP Hotline at 775.353.2271.
Please indicate where the tagging took place and what was tagged.
What to do if you see Tagging In Progress:
Call the Reno Police Department at 775.334.2677 or the
Sparks Police Department at 353-2231 if you see tagging in progress. Please
indicate where the tagging is taking place and what is being tagged.
Secret Witness
Secret Witness offers Truckee Meadows residents an anonymous way of reporting Graffiti. If the report leads to an arrest there is an award of up to $1,000. Secret Witness can be reached at 775.322.4900. To find out more information about Secret Witness visit their website at www.secretwitness.com.
Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful offers a lot of information and resources about graffiti through the Keep America Beautiful Graffiti Hurts program. For more information about this program visit www.graffitihurts.org.
The Graffiti Task Force
For educational resources dealing with graffiti call the Reno Graffiti Task Force at 775.334.4259.