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Chicago Has A More Effective Method For Removing Graffiti

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago is showing off new graffiti blaster trucks and a new, more effective way of removing graffiti.

The Dept. of Streets and Sanitation has eight new trucks, bringing to 22 the number that are out removing graffiti year-round.

The new method made quick work of a massive wall of graffiti on a shuttered pharmacy Tuesday morning at Archer and Western, on the city's southwest side.

 

Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams noted the lemon smell as he watched the graffiti disappear.

He said it is environmentally friendly and more effective than the old system.

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Crews at Archer and Western use the new method to get rid of this extensive graffiti on the wall of a pharmacy. (WBBM's Mike Krauser)

Williams said crews have been responding to complaints in five days or less, down considerably from the ten days it used to take.

He said they find that the quicker graffiti can be removed, the less likely it will be returned. Although a graffiti crewmember nodded yes when asked whether they are playing cat-and-mouse with those who put the graffiti up.

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