Dixon Police Department to Tap Volunteers to Help with Graffiti Removal

By Sarah Herrera
Dixon Patch correspondent

An effort is underway within the Dixon Police Department to take care of the city’s graffiti problem once and for all.

The department would like to recruit concerned residents to serve on a group that will help the police battle the city's graffiti problem.

Graffiti is not as rampant in Dixon as it is in larger surrounding cities within the county, but it’s certainly an issue that causes concern in the community immediately when it happens, Dixon Police Chief Jon Cox said.

As it stands today, whenever anyone reports graffiti in Dixon, a city worker visits the site of the reported graffiti and takes photographs of it in an attempt to identify the culprit. If the graffiti is on city-owned property, the city covers it up. But it the graffiti is done on a business or a residence, then it’s up to the business owner or the homeowner to take care of it.

Graffiti can happen in any Dixon neighborhood, but it is primarily found on sound walls, train tracks, buildings and in park areas such as restrooms and electrical boxes, Cox said. 

According to Dixon City Councilman Rick Fuller, who has years under his belt at the former Dixon Police chief and as undersheriff for Solano County, some businesses that have regularly been affected by graffiti are , and t.

Dixon has proactive measures for the graffiti problem, Cox said. Motion-activated cameras are placed in different places in the city. Officers also patrol the city and photograph graffiti. Increased lighting in parks is also being used. Taking pictures and observing patterns in graffiti can help recover property damages when charging individuals with the crime.

If convicted of misdemeanor vandalism, a person is subject to a fine and possible jail time of up to six months.  If the damages exceed $400 or the vandalism is done to a church, the crime is a felony and subject to more jail time.

“I think you have to pay attention to what those things are that are being said through graffiti,” Fuller said. “If they are gang related then you’ve really got a worse problem. If they are tagger-related then you got a problem finding who that person is and being able to associate that person with the tagging.”

Although the ages of those convicted of the vandalism can vary, some children as young as 12 have been charged. Most of the graffiti is not gang related, but is attributed to “tag crews” Cox said.

Keeping a photo diary of graffiti is one way to connect convicted taggers to other crimes, but Cox said that public awareness and community involvement has been the most effective way to help with the problem.  When someone sees and reports an act of vandalism, police are able to respond and successfully stop graffiti in progress.

The volunteer group is still in the planning stages, Cox said, but the goal is to set up a program that will work with property owners to assist with graffiti cleanup. Property owners are required under city ordinance to remove graffiti from their property after it happens and repeat vandalism can be costly, Cox said.

“These are challenging times with the budget city wide,” said Cox, “More than ever we are relying on the community to help us.”

In addition to residents removing the graffiti for free, there are also some local businesses that have expressed interest in donating supplies to the cause, Cox said.

“I commend any citizens that are willing to do volunteer work to get rid of it (graffiti),” Fuller said.

Residents interested in participating in the volunteer group can contact the Dixon Police Department at (707) 678-7070.