San Jose Considers Monetary Rewards For Graffiti, Dumping Tips From Residents

SAN JOSE - San Jose will explore compiling a program that would give residents a monetary reward for reports of blight in the city.

By a unanimous vote at its Tuesday meeting, the City Council directed staff to look into offering up to $1,000 to residents if their tip leads to arrests or fines of anyone caught writing graffiti, vandalizing or illegally dumping items.

The city will consider the reward program through its budget process later this month.

The City Council also accepted a 2014-2015 report from city staff on San Jose's efforts against litter and graffiti.

The report showed 23,000 users on the San Jose Clean app, which accounted for 84 percent of graffiti sightings sent to the city through cellphones.

There was also a slight increase of 10,000 square feet in eradicated graffiti and the city implemented a system that allowed them to "aggressively engage" more volunteers to help clean up trash compared to the previous year, according to the report.

-Bay City News, file image of arrested tagger from Patch archives