Cities wage high-tech battle against graffiti

Iria · May 30, 2007, 12:45 AM

Source: Reuters
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Global positioning systems (GPS), digital photography and computer databases are joining the humble paint can as U.S. cities battle to obliterate graffiti and catch its shadowy perpetrators.

"In the past, authorities had no way of keeping track of who was doing the damage in their city," said Tim Kephart, the president of Los Angeles-based Graffiti Tracker, whose systems are being bought by a growing number of American cities.

"Paint it out as quickly as possible -- that was the strategy. But you'll never be able to outpaint a tagger because what he can do with $1 can of spray paint is far more than a big clean-up truck can keep up with," Kephart said.

Graffiti Tracker takes pictures of graffiti before it is painted over, using GPS cameras that record the date, time and exact location. The company analyzes the graffiti, for example checking whether it is gang-related, and stores the pictures in its database.

May 30, 2007, 12:45 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Cities wage high-tech battle against graffiti Source: Reuters ________ LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Global positioning systems (GPS), digital photography and computer databases are joining the humble paint can as U.S. cities battle to obliterate graffiti and catch its shadowy perpetrators. "In the past, authorities had no way of keeping track of who was doing the damage in their city," said Tim Kephart, the president of Los Angeles-based Graffiti Tracker, whose systems are being bought by a growing number of American cities. "Paint it out as quickly as possible -- that was the strategy. But you'll never be able to outpaint a tagger because what he can do with $1 can of spray paint is far more than a big clean-up truck can keep up with," Kephart said. Graffiti Tracker takes pictures of graffiti before it is painted over, using GPS cameras that record the date, time and exact location. The company analyzes the graffiti, for example checking whether it is gang-related, and stores the pictures in its database.