Mayor Emanuel aims to double graffiti fines

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Some call it vandalism. Others call it art. But Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to crack down on graffiti offenders. He's targeting their wallets with bigger fines.

A tagger leaves his mark on the wall of a body shop - frustrating for the owners who have seen it before.

"I would say once every two months, six times a year kind of," said Octavio Tapia, America Auto Service.

Tapia will call the city - as he has done before - asking for a visit from the graffiti blasters.

Over at Central and Diversey, the blasters are removing graffiti from a building wall with a powerful baking soda spray. The tougher stuff gets washed with a light citrus acid. In calendar year 2013, Streets and San crews removed graffiti 137,000 times around the city. This year, $4 million is budgeted toward that effort. The mayor wants to hike fines for those caught tagging from $750 to a maximum $2,500 for repeat offenders.

"If you fine heavy enough, hopefully it will slow them down, but this is a burden for the taxpayers," said Ald. Jim Balcer, 11th Ward.

Many of the graffiti vandals are young, don't yet pay taxes, aren't easy to catch, and if they are, they aren't overly concerned with what they can't afford to pay in the first place.

"Do you think though that a tagger is gonna know what the penalties are going into this? I don't know if they'll know, but they'll find out," said Debbie DeLopez, Graffiti Removal Program manager.

The CTA earlier this year announced its attack on graffiti, which includes going after taggers, and in some cases their parents, in civil court. Four of five cases thus far involve fines aimed at parents or guardians. The CTA believes, based on anecdotal evidence, that graffiti is down. But the CTA has an abundance of cameras on its trains, buses and property. The city is a big place.

Tapia though said he thinks stiffer fines might help.

"Especially parents, they would talk a little more seriously with their kids," he said.

For now, Tapia waits for a revisit from the graffiti blasters.

Emanuel's office said he will submit a plan to the city council this week to increase fines and penalties for graffiti. The mayor's office said Emanuel will make the proposal on Wednesday. They said fines haven't been changed for nearly a decade. Fines would be higher for repeat offenders.

The 2014 city budget added nearly $1 million to the Graffiti Removal Program, including two blasting crews, a painting crew and two chemical graffiti trucks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.