Wanna be in pictures? Tag in Montebello - The city is installing cameras equipped with sensors that are triggered by the sound of spray cans. Police are then notified.

Immediately, an alert went off at the Montebello Police Department, and a female voice identified the location: "Tagging at 1st and Whittier, northeast Floor Shop." The screens on numerous surveillance monitors flashed red as cameras zoomed in.

Ultimately, there were no arrests. The tagger was part of a demonstration Wednesday of Montebello's new $1-million anti-graffiti system. The system includes certain cameras equipped with the "tagger trap," designed to catch taggers red-handed along city streets and in parks.

The system, produced by Pasadena-based Axium Technologies Inc., includes a sensor that company and police officials said reacts to the sound emitted from an aerosol can up to 80 feet away.

When triggered, the system notifies authorities quickly through an electronic link to police headquarters, they said.

Officials said they plan to install about 120 cameras around the city by the end of December. Of those, 25 will include the special sensors, while the others will provide standard surveillance, officials said.

"So when somebody's spraying a wall or specific target, this sensor activates the camera . . . then sends a signal to our dispatch . . . dispatch zooms in and sends units to the area," said Det. Ismael Navarro of the Montebello Police Department's special investigations unit's graffiti task force. "Even if we don't catch them in the act, the activity is recorded, so we can always go and rewind."

Navarro said city officials hope the new system will help reduce the cost of painting over graffiti by 40 to 50% within three to four years.

"A million dollars is a lot of money, but we're spending close to $700,000 a year repairing graffiti, and we don't really have any proactive approach to combat it other than cleaning it up after they've done it," Navarro said.

So far 60 cameras, 14 with the tagger-trap technology, are up and running along the city's major thoroughfares such as Whittier Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, said Gary Pak, Western regional sales manager for Axiom Technologies.

Each camera equipped with the latest technology costs $20,000 to $30,000 depending on installation costs. The 95 standard cameras cost a few hundred dollars each plus installation costs, Pak said.

City officials view the expense as an investment. Montebello, like numerous communities, remains frustrated by the fight to eliminate, or at least reduce, graffiti.