Any business in the city knows that graffiti removal can become both tedious and costly. Graffiti artists have a tendency to keep coming back to specific areas -- and the more you erase their work, the more they want to repeat it. If your business is suffering from repeated graffiti attempts, you may want to try these strategies.

1. Beef Up Your Visible Security

Graffiti is often a crime of opportunity. The better your security is, the more likely it is that the graffiti artists will stay away. But your security has to be visible to be effective. This includes visible security cameras (even decoys), bright lights, and motion sensors. If a flood light turns on every time a young teen walks by your building, they are far less likely to tag your walls.

2. Consider Art of Your Own

Believe it or not, there does tend to be a code in the graffiti community. Though a blank wall is very likely to be tagged, it's less likely that a mural or other work is going to be defaced. If it's appropriate for your business, you can consider placing a work of your own. By putting it in the right commercial outdoor paint, it will also be able to easily outlast any spray paint that does mar it.

3. Invest in a Pressure Washer

Of course, some people just want to keep things clean. If graffiti is regularly appearing on the side of your building, you might want to consider the purchase of a pressure washer. A pressure washer is one of the best tools for graffiti removal and will be a one-time cost. Then you can stop paying graffiti removal services and simply focus on cleaning as usual. 

4. Reach Out to the Police

Very few business owners think about reaching out to police, but they are intended to deal with vandalism as well. A police officer isn't likely to catch a single graffiti artist, but what they can do is increase patrols in your area. These patrols just remind ne'er-do-wells that there is someone watching them -- and thus dissuade teens and young adults from acting out. 

The important thing to remember is that you don't want to create an overly antagonistic relationship with the community -- and graffiti artists are, for better or worse, part of the community. By remaining resilient and protecting your space, you should be able to send a clear but peaceful message.