03:12 PM CDT on Sunday, June 25, 2006

By Karla Barguiarena / 11 News

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Houston’s leaders say they are determined to void out vandalism.

KHOU-TV

The Grafiti SWAT Squad goes after the side of a building.

Their war on graffiti is the largest offensive the city has ever launched against the eyesore.

Saturday, a so-called “grafitti SWAT squad” started taking action.

They went to the 2100 Block of Little York Road in North Houston.

If you’re just driving by, you might not see it, but Eloy Mendez does.

He’s forced to look at it dozens of times throughout the day.

“I open my window so I can see the customers coming in and instead of seeing customers, the first thing I see is art. Paintings everywhere, scratches, people just cussing each other, violence really,” said Eloy Mendez, business owner.

The violence is directly across the street from his insurance business.

It’s a crime he says turns customers away.

“They see your business and they see well that’s not my type of business in the area is too much violence,” said Mendez.

But luckily, to his rescue came eight armed men, but their weapons were paint brushes and rollers.

“Ya’ll know what I need, I need it blocked off, said Tony Emmanuel, HPD, Neighborhood Protection.

They call themselves a swat team.

“I just say the Paint SWAT Team because when we get it, it’s all about just taking it down. There’s no options,” Emmanuel said.

And they are part of what the city is calling a more aggressive approach to combating graffiti.

Graffiti has been a huge problem for the city of Houston. They’ve been fighting it for years. But this time, they say they have more resources, more paint to get the job done right.

“There’s gonna be money available to put cameras up, cameras to take pictures,” said Jack Hanagriff, HPD.

It’s a sort of candid camera to catch those who don’t want to be caught.

“They don’t want to be known. They talk in code, they use handles or code names,” Hanagriff said.

Those names get erased with the help of Harris County probationers.

Tony,HPD, neighborhood protection

“That look good, fellas,” Emmanuel said to the team.

Many hope it’ll last.

The City is committing more than $2.25 million for graffiti clean-up.

If you see graffiti you are urged to call the city’s 311 hotline.

Crime Stoppers is offering rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone caught committing graffiti related crimes.