Steps To Take After You Get Graffiti Removed From Your Business
It's a rude awakening to pull up to the business that you run one morning and see that vandals have covered at least some of your exterior walls in graffiti. While you'll certainly want to call the local police to file a report, your next phone call should be to a graffiti removal service.
This service can then dispatch a mobile technician to visit your location promptly and begin the lengthy process of removing the graffiti. Once the paint and/or marker is gone, it's not yet time to get back to business as usual. Instead, you should be working on plans to prevent it from happening again. Here are some steps to take.
Improve The Lighting
Graffiti vandals often strike in shadowy areas; a well-lit area can make them visible to passersby, who would hopefully call the police. It's important for you to assess how lit the affected area was. If it was dark overnight, you'll need to make improvements. This could be as simple as putting your exterior lights on a timer so that they automatically come on at dusk, or you may actually need to hire a lighting contractor to install some exterior light fixtures that will brighten your building and make it less of a target.
Restrict Access
Those who want to vandalize something will look for easy targets, so it's possible that the vandals viewed your building in this manner. Think about the ways that you can restrict access. For example, if the graffiti was on a sign atop your building and the vandals got to the roof via a ladder, buy and have them install a locking mechanism that blocks the ladder's rungs so that unauthorized personnel cannot use it. Things such as fencing and even barbed wire in certain areas can further make your building a difficult target.
Fight Back
You can further show that you aren't going to be a victim by taking the fight to future vandals in the form of an external security camera. You likely already have cameras inside your business, so it's time to call your security company to schedule an appointment to get exterior cameras mounted.
Those that are controllable via smartphone can offer full-HD resolution, and are capable of nighttime footage are good choices. You can augment your new security cameras by posting a sign that reads "Premises Protected By Security" or something similar. Often, security companies can give you these signs.
Contact a company like NYC Power Wash for more information and assistance.