New Ordinance Makes It Harder to Buy Spray Paint

COMPTON — As several other cities have done recently, Compton is taking a new tack in the war against graffiti.

The City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance regulating the sale of aerosol paint containers. The ordinance requires merchants to keep the paint off the shelves and in a secure place not easily accessible to customers.

Lakewood and Los Angeles County recently passed similar ordinances under a law enacted by the Legislature to give local governments the right to regulate the sale of spray paint.

Graffiti is such a problem in Compton that the city has a full-time graffiti patrol and a hot line for reporting new graffiti. The patrol is dispatched daily to remove or paint over the graffiti.