Local businesses are taking a different approach to prevent graffiti in the downtown area.

“We are trying to be proactive instead of reactive,” said Barbara Ruland, director of Downtown Bowling Green. “We want to educate people about understanding that it’s one thing to express yourself and another to destroy private property.”

In the past 15 years, graffiti has become more of a problem, said Municipal Administrator John Fawcett. Tags have become bigger and more elaborate while being placed in more visible areas.

To combat this problem, the Downtown Bowling Green Organization teamed up with the city police and Crime Stoppers, and began placing placards around town and the University listing a phone number to report cases of graffiti or other crimes. People can receive up to a $1,000 reward for a report leading to a conviction.

By emphasizing the fact that these people are not artists but criminals while getting the community to place their eyes on the issue, people committing the crimes will be caught, Fawcett said.

While it is hard to catch criminals in the act, there are measures to deter graffiti.

“Increased presence, visibility and quick response” are the best ways to prevent the action, said Lieutenant Brad Biller of the Bowling Green Police Division.

The police have access to eight cameras around the downtown area, Biller said.

The cameras have led to graffiti artists’ arrests in the past, he said.

“It’s very unsightly and it deteriorates the look of the property,” said Floyd Craft, owner of Ben Franklin Crafts and proponent of downtown’s initiatives.

Not only is graffiti a blight, but removing it can prove expensive to the property owners as well.

Removing graffiti is very costly depending on the size of the tag, the material of the wall and the labor costs, Craft said.

Craft said his business has been tagged around 15 times in the past 36 years.

Serious removal can cost property owners a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, said Jeff Sawyer, a paint contractor for D & S Painting, Shake Spray and Roll, who has painted over graffiti for downtown businesses in the past.

The best thing businesses can do is get rid of the graffiti as soon as possible because if people don’t see graffiti to begin with, they will be less inclined to do so, Sawyer said.

But graffiti on exterior walls aren’t the only problem, as defacing can happen on the inside as well.

Jon Hobbie, co-owner of Uptown Downtown, said the bathroom is a usual target.

“Unless you have a bouncer in the bathroom, you can’t stop it,” Hobbie said.

Hobbie said he ends up repainting the whole bathroom after an incident and the defacing picks up around bar crawls and toward graduation.

“It’s really disrespectful to the people giving you a place to go and hang out,” Sawyer said.

It’s important to educate the community about the issue because downtown is an attraction to both the University and other businesses, Ruland said.

“Downtown is a place of pride in the community and we work hard to keep it that way,” she said.

To report a crime, people can call 419-352-0077. All calls are confidential.