A parade-like procession made its way down the alley between Lincoln and Broadway Sept. 19 as volunteers searched out and painted over graffiti.

The once-a-month graffiti paint out is organized by and led by Toni Geier, Englewood Police community relations coordinator, to locate and paint over graffiti on public property.

Nine volunteers turned out for the Sept. 19 session which is the last paint-out until April.

This was the second time Janet Simpson has volunteered for the paint-out.

“I came because I just felt it was a good way to give back to the community,” the Englewood resident said. “It’s the way to get this stuff painted over because the city just doesn’t have the people or the time to get to it. Hopefully, if we keep painting over the graffiti, those who do it will get the message.”

Her friend Ann Guessford agreed.

“My friend Janet told me she was coming and invited me to join her so I did because I want to get more involved in my community,” the first-time volunteer said. “It is actually sort of fun and I am meeting new people plus it is a way for me to help clean up my city.”

Lori Peltz accompanied her children Logan and Ronnie on the paint out.

She said she wanted her children to do something good for the community. She added that most kids love to play with spray paint so her kids should have fun.

Ronnie Peltz said painting over graffiti was OK but she wished the program started later so she could sleep in a little longer.

“But I am glad I came,” she said. “I think what we are doing helps make the community look better and makes Englewood a good place to live.”

This is the second year Geier has organized the graffiti paint-out program. She said she has seen a huge drop in the amount of graffiti the volunteers paint over.

She said, the first paint out last year focused on the alley between Lincoln and Broadway and it took the volunteers four hours and 27 cans of spray paint to eradicate the graffiti.

“Today, as we drive the same alley, we find a little graffiti here and there,” Geier said. “If the alley between Acoma and Broadway is like this we’ll finish up pretty quickly.”

She noted the paint outs have helped plus the city took steps to try to catch those who create the graffiti by purchasing and installing graffiti cameras.

Englewood has three cameras that are set up to video tape those so-called taggers. The camera is activated by motion and floods the area with light. The cameras are mobile so can be moved from location to location. The reason for the camera is to have visual evidence so a tagger can be caught and prosecuted.