Graffiti-related arrests have nearly doubled under a year-old program which uses digital cameras to help police track patterns in vandalism around New York city, according to a published report.

As of last Sunday, there had been 2,230 graffiti arrests in 2005, a 93 percent jump from the same period last year, the Daily News reported Monday. More than half of the offenders were under 18.

"The doubling indicates how serious we take it," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "The handwriting's on the wall. Vandals will be identified and arrested."

Under the program, which started in October 2004, police established a database of vandals' names and photographs of their work. When graffiti features a tag, or signature name, police can use the database to find past offenders who have used the tag before.

Surveillance cameras installed at graffiti-prone sites and undercover officers assigned to trail suspects also added to the arrests.

About 700 arrested vandals and examples of their work have been stored in a database. "They graffiti everything -- storefronts, fences, mailboxes, ambulances, fire-alarm boxes," said Fred Kress, who founded Citizens Against Graffiti Everywhere last month. "It's almost like a drug. Once they do it and they don't get caught, they do it again and again."

A "worst of the worst" book of the city's 100 most sought-after vandals was sent to police stations across the city.

Police officials have encourage the rank and file not to shrug graffiti off as a petty offense. The Police Department of New York has also formed the Citywide Vandals Task Force, an 80-member plainclothes unit to supplement that effort.

Gangs are responsible for some graffiti, police say, but the majority comes from young men who just want to see their tag in giant letters.

According to statistics, of the offenders nabbed this year, 1,228 were 17 or younger, while 1,002 were 18 or older.

Source: Xinhua