Saskatoon's downtown businesses want police action after a large spike of graffiti in the area.

Any time that someone comes along and damages property, it's time, cost and effort to get it back to its proper form. - Brent Penner

Between 2016 and 2017, graffiti complaints in the downtown area spiked by 80 per cent.

Now, the association is asking for the return of a full-time graffiti investigator to help with the situation.

"If you have one person that can look at images and if they see 20 of the same thing, they can conduct an investigation and hold someone responsible," said Brent Penner, executive director of Downtown Saskatoon.

Up until 2015, the Saskatoon Police Service assigned one of its police officers to the graffiti beat full time. However, the position was re-assigned to the patrol unit that year.

"When they created that position 10 years ago, they seemed to be leaders, not just in Canada but globally," Penner said. "(Now) you're not getting a specific response. You're getting a general response."

Downtown Saskatoon would like to see the return of a full-time graffiti investigator with the Saskatoon police. (Dan Zakreski/CBC) Penner, a former staff sergeant with the Saskatoon Police Service, is joining with the Riversdale and Broadway Business Improvement Districts in asking for more help from the city.

They worry increased graffiti will make their areas less attractive to shoppers and businesses.

"Any time that someone comes along and damages property, it's time, cost and effort to get it back to its proper form," he said. "We want to encourage things to look as good as they can."

In a statement, Saskatoon police said it was working with the City of Saskatoon to better address the issue. While the General Investigations Section will investigate large graffiti files, there is no one assigned to the unit full time.

The City of Saskatoon said it currently deals with graffiti on a case-by-case basis, although it was looking at creating a more proactive program that will be brought before council in the next few months.

A letter from Penner was sent to Saskatoon's Board of Police Commissioners, which met on Thursday.