An Inside Look At Chicago's Graffiti Blasters; 'This Is A Big Job'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's an ugly problem all over Chicago, and it pops up like weeds. Despite a slashed budget, Chicago's graffiti removal teams are tackling taggers one block at a time.
"It is affecting quality of life," said Streets and Sanitation Deputy Commissioner Cole Stallard.
His squad of Streets and Sanitation workers use weapons small and large in their constant fight to keep buildings, light poles, fences, and more clean of graffiti. The team uses a baking soda truck, a chemical sprayer loaded with citrus-based oil, and old-fashioned paint to remove graffiti.
"This is a big job," he said.
In 2018 alone, graffiti removal teams tackled 106,683 incidents involving graffiti.
"We want to give the impression that it's going to come down as fast as it goes up," Stallard said.
The 50-person graffiti removal program receives $4.6 million a year in tax dollars, but its budget has decreased nearly 4 percent since 2016, in part because of efficiency, according to Stallard.
Graffiti complaints filed with 311 are meticulously categorized, and assigned in four-by-four block grids, reducing response time.
"It used to take us up to 10 days to get that graffiti down," Stallard said. "By gridding it more efficiency, we're getting that down now in three to four days."
Barber Joshua Davila notices fresh graffiti at least once a week.
"It is an eyesore to people that live in the community," he said.
However, he's a little nervous the mural at Who's Next Barber Shop could be caught in the crossfire of constantly returning clean-up crews. Graffiti removal workers accidentally painted over a taxpayer-funded mural at the Paulina Brown Line stop last summer, after someone complained it was graffiti.
Stallard owned that mistake, and has encouraged all building owners and artists to sign up on a new mural registry, which Streets and Sanitation crews will check before washing away or painting over something reported as graffiti.
The mural registry was launched earlier this month, and already contains information on more than 75 pieces of public art.