The New York City Police Department today is announcing a new collaborative effort to erase the blight of unsanctioned often destructive graffiti in shared public spaces across our city.

Our anti-graffiti efforts will rely on the built up relationships between the police and the public in two important ways. First, officers from all 77 precincts, and in our transit and housing units, will rely on information from residents about locations that need a cleanup. Second, officers and community-member volunteers will stand side-by-side to get the job done.

Working together, our “Graffiti Clean-Up” campaign will kick off as the weather improves and will continue in response to what we anticipate will be an increasing supply of tips streaming in from the public.

Besides speaking with officers, residents can use new digital tools to send in photos and ideas about which locations need work. The NYPD has established a new email address graffiti@nypd.org – that will be monitored around the clock by a dedicated police officer in the Chief of Department’s office and will allow people to send photos of graffiti and sites needing attention.

“City residents, as well as our men and women officers, know well the perils of this costly and often obscene vandalism that can mar a neighborhood, create the perception of disorder and lead to further quality of life and crime problems,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. “At the same time, our residents and their police know the power of collaboration to rejuvenate our city spaces and…