Today the Watsonville Police Department along with Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee announced a three month investigation focused on arresting the city's most serious graffiti vandals.

Police took thirty four people between the ages of 14 and 23 off the streets.  Police say the problem stretched beyond Watsonville and into other parts of the county as well as Castroville and Salinas.

Police say volunteers that watched walls at night as well as new technology that sends a sensor to the police department when tagging is in progress has made the difference in the fight against graffiti.

A new law that was passed last year, allows stricter prosecution for first time offenders that includes jail time of up to a year and requires the "taggers" to clean up the damage they created.

The crackdown will extend throughout the county, and the Sheriff's department is in the process of buying six of the sensors that Watsonville police now use to alert officers of tagging in progress.